The Master Commander
by JScribz
Summary: In an alternative universe; Bruce leads the Resistance against The Empire which is run by 'The Supreme Being' (Clark). Caught in between is 'The Empress' (Diana) who is allied with The Empire for the sake of her people, but finds herself falling for the leader of her 'enemy'. This takes place in an AU without their superhero personas! BM/WW! May be OOC at some parts*
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I last wrote anything PERIOD! But after watching the new 300 movie, a spark of inspiration had me writing this new story~ the characters may be out of character, but please keep in mind that this is takes place in an alternative universe! Enjoy! And let me know what you guys think !

"Bruce!" a voice called out to him from the distance. He slowly turned his head towards the direction of which he thought he heard it from, but there was no one or nothing to be seen-it was pitch black. His lips slightly parted as he looked to the other side in confusion. Again, he was confronted with emptiness but this time it was pure white. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes races back and forth looking for any signs that might indicate where he might be or why he was here. His body automatically tensed at the notion of a new sound that flowed into his ears-water. At first it sounded like small trickles of water, but then it grew louder and more frequent. His eyes quickly lowered to look at the floor below him. There was a small stream that ran right between his feet, dividing the two sides of the room. His gaze followed the direction of which the water was running. He made out a small figure standing a few meters away from him directly over the stream of water. The figure's shadow was cast between the two of them, half of it black and the other half white – each opposite of the side that it was cast upon.

"They killed them." The boy whispered, his voice laced with ice. Bruce remained silent as his face quickly turned to stone. It was him. The boy was him.

"They killed them both," he whispered once more. Younger Bruce began to slightly sway back and forth as he hung his head so his chin was touching his collarbone. Bruce had an urge to reach out to the child so he could comfort him; for he understood the pain, the horror and the loss. But instead he just lowered his head just as the boy had. It was just a dream, it'll pass.

"And they'll kill them all," a small thud was heard as the boy dropped to his knees. Bruce looked up in dismay as he found his younger self dipping his hands in the water below as tear drops began falling from his pointed chin. Bruce's breath hitched as he saw the tear drops change the stream into a river of red. The red substance began to overflow and spread past his feet, changing the once black and white world to a crimson red. He tried to retreat but found his feet bound to the floor by the hands of the boy who was now looking directly up at him. Instead of finding the icy blue eyes he is usually confronted with when he looks in the mirror he finds orbs of rouge, filled with hate and anguish. The boys crimson gaze quickly disappeared in the murky water that was now rising faster than before. Bruce slowly looked up and lightly closed his eyes as he felt the water crawl up his neck.

"I know" he whispered to himself right before he was completely engulfed by the crimson fluid.

"Rough night?" Dick asked as he poured a cup of coffee. Bruce, who was leaning over the table with his head in his hands looked up and gave the younger man a short grin before accepting the coffee.

"Guess you could say that," Bruce sighed as he closed his eyes and took a long sip. Dick made his way around and sat beside him on the bench. Bruce always found it odd that he had preferred sitting next to people rather than in front of them, especially when it was one on one. But Dick had justified this odd behavior by saying he likes to watch people interact, or as Tim would like to say; go on 'Barbara-Watch'.

Bruce looked around the dining hall and noticed how populated it was today, but then again he rarely ate there. The round tables were filled with chatter and laughter as people discussed their days and plans. A tinge of jealousy filled him as he saw friends, couples and families make conversation. He glanced past the tables and saw his dear friend Alfred working in the kitchen. The elderly man wiped his forehead with his rolled up sleeves as he prepared to pick up a large basin from the ground.

'I'll have to ask for more volunteers' Bruce told himself as he silently apologized to his friend. His attention was brought back to Dick when his ex-apprentice slid a folded piece of paper under his cup of coffee. Before asking him what it was, Bruce unfolded it and quickly read over the report.

"We can't stay here long," Dick murmured as he shook his head, "we can't stay anywhere long,"

"How certain are we about this?" Bruce slid the paper back over to the younger man.

"Enough. The source itself is credible," Bruce took another sip of his coffee.

"Then we'll begin preparations tonight," Bruce got up to leave, "try not to spook the refugees,"

"You got it," Dick leaned back as he lazily saluted his mentor as he left, "Master Commander,"

Bruce just nodded his head in amusement as he walked out of the dining hall back towards his quarters. As he walked down the tunnel he was greeted by many refugees; all of whom thanked him and wished for the best. Though it felt great to receive acknowledgement for doing his job, he wanted to tell them to hold their thanks. It was not over yet. The war with the Supreme was still going on, and there were still many more struggles and hurdles to overcome. His jaw automatically clenched at the thought of "The Supreme". He was the start of everything; the war, the pain &amp; suffering, the injustice and the loss. The Supreme was a being that was not of this planet; he was infinitely stronger, faster and smarter than most of the beings that occupied this planet. Utilizing his abilities and both the fear and hope he brought about in humans, he rose to power. Eventually, he held half of the world in the palm of his hands and the other half tried to fight against his rise for power, thus the beginning of world war three. The war was now coming to an end after 20 years, with more than 9/10 of the world under his rule. The other 10% was considered the resistance, and they lived in constant fear as they ran from the elite group called "Purgers" who were assigned to chase down and capture them. Bruce was the leader of the primary group of resistors, the Alpha resistance group which was generally located on the north eastern coast of what used to be North America. The headquarters of the resistance was located closest to the capital of the supreme, which was both a blessing and a curse. They would get news and information the fastest, but they were also living in constant fear of being discovered.

"Why the long face?" A sultry voice pulled him from his thoughts. Bruce immediately knew who it was and didn't stop to chat as he walked right past her to the entrance to his room. He tried to concentrate on typing in his pin code when he felt a delicate hand slide up his forearm. He sighed and paused a second before looking into her dark green eyes.

"Bruce," she whispered seductively as she slyly stepped in-between him and the door, "why are you avoiding me?"

"Selina," he turned his head to the side as soon as she tried to caress his chiseled jaw bone, "we can't do this,"

"Why? Everybody knows our beloved commander needs his own sort of pleasure," she lowered her eyelids as she brought her hand from his arm to the back of his neck, "I'm just here to help,"

"Now is hardly the time," he gently but firmly grabbed her hand at the nape of his neck and brought it down to her side.

"When will it ever be?" She now sounded irritated. Without waiting for a reply from Bruce, she slid away from him and walked quickly down the hall.

Bruce just rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger and typed in his pin-code with his other hand. He walked into his quarters and stripped himself of his shirt. He laid down on his make-shift bed and closed his eyes. It was quite the eventful morning; first the dream, then the news of being almost discovered and last but not least the little tango with Selina. He would never deny that there was an attraction between the two of them, but it was more physical than anything else. She was exquisite, a rare beauty. But there was more to her than just that; Selina was brilliant, cunning and a great fighter. What kept him from succumbing to his desires were his job, and the uncertainty he felt with her. Many relied upon his decisions, and he couldn't let personal things get in the way of his judgment.

He chased away those thoughts as he began to make room for ideas of how he was going to go about with the next supply run. It was getting harder and harder to find supplies, as the empire began to sweep the area in order to build new structures for the ever-growing society. Hopefully when they relocate they would find themselves in an area with an abundant supply of food, tools, medication and other things. His thoughts were once again interrupted as his com-link went off, signifying an incoming call. He lifted his hand and waved it once over his ear.

"Bruce here," He responded with his baritone voice, "what is it Cass?"

"Bruce…" Her voice was shaking. Bruce sat up, it wasn't like Cassandra to sound so shaken up.

"What is it?" he demanded urgently, "What happened?

"Bruce…they killed Talia," she barely got out before sobs could be heard over the com-link. Bruce ground his teeth. Talia was in charge of the Delta resistance group located by Infinity Island. He tightly shut his eyes as images of his past lover came to paint the back of his eyelids. She was the strongest woman he had ever known. Her loyalty to her people and cause had enraptured him, but their romance was short-lived as they had parted ways. He had jeopardized her father in a mission that they both partook in, and she was forced to return to Infinity Island to take over her father's position as leader of the resistance group. Was it his fault that she was murdered? Had he lost another beloved person in his life because of his insolence? What was he even doing? He shook his head as if to force the negative thoughts away. First thing was first, he needed to get Cassandra out of there before she ended up dead as well.

"Cassandra, did you make it out okay?" he didn't know what he would do if he lost her as well, Cassandra was like a younger sister to him.

"Yes, Tim brought reinforcements and we're currently on our way to checkpoint 1587," her voice now steady.

"Okay, I want a debrief sent over ASAP. Also, don't spread word of this-not yet,"

"There's a problem with that…" her voice now sounding serious, "Jason knows,"

Bruce jolted up to his feet with this new information. His hands balled up into tight fists as he took a deep breath. This was the worst possible way this could have played out. Jason was in love with Talia, but Talia had still loved him. It caused their once mentor-mentee relationship to fall to pieces as Jason was spiteful against him. But on top of that Jason was a rash, uncontrollable and emotionally-driven young man. He picked up his shirt from the bed and put it on as he quickly fled his quarters. He sprinted down the tunnel as he frantically looked for Jason.

"Bruce you th-" he turned off the com-link as he tried to keep a clear head. He came to an abrupt stop at Jason's room and typed in the override pin-code. The door opened and he found the room completely ransacked; there were clothes all over the place and feathers from what used to be pillows scattered everywhere. He walked over to the closet and slid the door open to find the gun-case empty. Bruce cursed under his breath as he slammed the door shut and quickly made his way over to the communication center of the base. Everyone got up from their seats and saluted him as he entered the room, but he didn't even acknowledge the greetings as he slammed his fist on the table and opened up the computer's voice control and barked,

"Where the hell is Jason Todd?"

So? What'd you guys think?!

I apologize for all the grammatical errors, like I said before… it's been awhile since I last wrote anything so I actually did have some difficulty keeping the grammar in check. I'll be sure to edit this ASAP~

Thanks for reading! ^-^


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! WHEW! I was going to take another week or so before I updated this story, but I was so happy to see the reviews so I just couldn't help myself! :)! Thanks everyone for all the reviews, it really means a lot to me!

Some Things that might help you guys put this story into perspective:

Bruce is 28 years old; Dick is 25; Jason is 23 - None of the Bat-clan is Bruce's adopted children.

There are no Superhero Personas in here. It's strictly Bruce, Diana, Clark. No WW, BM &amp; SM!

I can't think of anything else for now, but if you guys have any questions regarding the story, definitely let me know!

ENJOY! :D

* * *

"You sure about this?" Worry filled Dick's voice as he handed Bruce his tuxedo jacket, "I mean, we all want Jason to return safely but you might be throwing yourself under a bus by doing this,"

Bruce didn't reply, instead he just shook his arms to straighten out the shirt before putting the black jacket on. He tugged gently on the bow tie to make sure that it would stay neatly in place. Dick sighed as he roughly ran both his hands through his jet black shoulder length hair.

"Listen Bruce, I don't want to come off as insensitive but losing Jason is one thing and losing you – well let's just say we can't label that as a possibility," he let out another sigh as he leaned his back against the wall in frustration, "We can't afford to lose you, we just can't,"

A few moments passed in silence as Dick began to regret what he had said, but knew that he had to have said it. Dick knew best that Bruce was someone who was willing to throw his life on the line for absolutely anyone. Every bone in that man's body was selfless, and it didn't help that he was one of the most stubborn people he had every come across. This meant that Bruce was willing to throw his own life away at any moment, and nobody could do anything to make him change his mind-nobody. It always managed to sadden him knowing that Bruce was condemning himself to this sorrowful path that he had chosen. Even with the knowledge of what it was exactly that drove this man to being the dark, secretive and self-inflicting hero that he was today did not justify his actions. No one should be pushed to tread the path that this man follows, but he continually chooses to do so.

A large strong hand being placed on his shoulder had brought Dick back to the matter at hand. He looked up and greeted the surprisingly reassuring gesture with a wide-eyed look. Bruce's usual artic blue eyes were replaced with ones of sympathy and warmth, it was the first time he had seen that look on his face since Bruce had found him 15 years ago.

"I need to do this," Bruce simply said with an even voice as he squeezed his friends shoulder firmly before turning around to grab his watch and wallet,

'And you need me to understand,' Dick silently told himself, finishing his words for him. He shrugged his shoulders before announcing his surrender,

"I'll be in the com-room," he turned and walked out of the Master Commander's quarters. Bruce didn't bother turning to look as Dick left the room, it would make it harder to follow his resolve. Dick was like a brother to him, but so was Jason. As much as he wanted to reassure Dick that he would remain safe and sound, he wanted to be assured that Jason was as well. He wrapped the watch around his wrist and clipped it on in one swift motion. He checked the time and silently cursed to himself, he was running late.

* * *

-1 Hour Later-

* * *

The ballroom was filled to capacity with the mass of people that had attended this year's North Eastern Charity Ball. The large fancy décor that hung from the ceilings and walls only mentioned a small portion of the wealth that belonged to those who attended this event. The NE Charity Ball was the most prestigious and well-known of the celebratory events the Empire had hosted. All of the richest throughout the Empire gathered here for this one day, for it was also the ultimate 'purge' event. The closest relative to a 'Purger' would be a bounty hunter, and the closest relative to a 'Purgee' would be a slave. The Purgers main job is to go seek and capture members of the resistance. The Purgers are rewarded according to the age, gender and position of the member that is caught. Then, the Purgees are kept in prison until the next Purge event. At these events, the elite members of the Empire pay insane amounts of money to purchase their own Purgees to keep, sell, or in most cases-to kill. In the Empire, there is no law but that of The Supreme and in order to keep the people content and happy with the way things are run, he sees fit that the people can have micro-laws of their own. To join the Empire, is to gain supremacy over those who do not conform to them. This instills fear and empowerment amongst the elite members so that they would choose on their own not to forsake the Empire.

Bruce walked over to the long drink bar and ordered a scotch. He doesn't drink, but for obvious reasons he would walk around pretending that he was drinking. He turned around to face the main area of the ballroom and rested his elbow on the bar. Scanning the room for a familiar face, he pretended to be unaware of the lustful stares he received from a good number of the female population.

'Now if only Jason would look at me like that, it'd be so much easier to find him,' he jokingly told himself as a smirk found its way across his lips. They had received intel from Tim that Jason was going to be here at the ball. Bruce only knew what his intentions might be if he had planned on coming to this ball-to assassinate the Supreme. It was pointless; the Supreme was beyond human biology-there was simply no known way as to how they could go about killing him. Jason was planning on killing himself in an attempt to exert his revenge for his fallen love, and Bruce was here to stop it. He continued to nonchalantly look around for the young man, trying not to draw attention to him – but failed to do so. He felt a figure approach him from the side, far too close for it to be without intention. He held a sigh as he got ready to leave his post, but was pulled to a stop by a gentle hand grabbing him by the bend of his arm. He lazily looked over to his side and gave his attention to the black-haired beauty that had stopped him from his get-a-way.

"Hey pretty boy, where ya running off to?" her words were slurred, and her eyes full of undeniable lust. The event had just started and she was already a drunken mess. Bruce mentally shook his head in disbelief, perhaps this is what the people on the surface did during their free-time – get wasted.

"The lavatory," he answered with a monotone voice hoping that she would get the hint that her presence was unwelcome.

"Lookin' for someone to go with you?" She tilted her head, causing her deep blue eyes to glisten under the crystal chandeliers.

"Not particularly," He pretended to stretch his shoulders in an attempt to get her hand off of his arm so that he can escape with more ease – again, no such luck. This time he just jerked his arm out of her grasp and involuntarily let out a short sigh. He began to walk away when there was a sudden jerk on his arm and he felt a moment of panic as his drink flew out of his hand,

"Oops," The woman let out as she let go of Bruce's arm in shock of what she had just done. A good majority of the room went silent, but not before a gasp was heard from every mouth that had witnessed what had just happened. Bruce clenched his jaw and groaned to himself as he began to regret coming out in search for Jason. The idea was to keep his presence on the down-low, but this drunk had just ruined that for him. His irritation dissipated immediately when he finally noticed the real reason as to why everyone in the room had made just a big fuss about him spilling the drink. It wasn't that he spilt the drink, but rather _who_ he had spilt it on.

Standing before Bruce was none other than the Empress. The 'right hand' of the Supreme, his ally and what most consider – his lover. She looked as elegant as can be in a pearly white one-shoulder dress that ran diagonally across her abundant breasts and down past her knees in a draping manner that showed off her smooth silk legs and ended in a short trail behind her. Her raven hair was filled with loose waves as it all gathered over one shoulder and stopped above her waist. Bruce stopped his journey short at the discovery of the splotches on her dress where he had spilt his drink on her. He was beginning to wish he had actually drank so that there wouldn't be as abundant a supply of alcohol as there was on her dress. He looked up to find deadly azure eyes piercing his very soul. He should be frightened, but instead he finds himself allured. There was nothing but clarity that enveloped her eyes, an innocence-perhaps a naivety of some sort.

"A sorry would do plenty," her voice was filled with irritation. The bartender was the first to move as he grabbed a bunch of napkins and ran around the bar to help the Empress with the mess.

"Thank you," her voice this time was much sweeter and softer as she gratefully accepted the napkins from the bartender. Bruce found himself wishing he was on the receiving end of that voice instead. He cleared his throat as he gathered his once lost composure.

"Please," Her voice filled with royalty as she addressed the others, "pay no attention, enjoy yourselves,"

The attendees returned to their previous states, as if none of what had happened actually happened. The Empress was turning towards the direction of the bathroom when Bruce called out to her,

"Excuse me," she turned around immediately, her eyes made no effort in hiding the surprise she felt when she heard his deep baritone voice for the first time. Bruce took a step towards her, leaving the previous woman with her newfound interest in the bartender.

"Would you like to dance?" He chuckled to himself as he saw her raise an eyebrow at his inappropriate request in regards to the situation.

"Would you like to apologize?" She retorted as she shook her head in disbelief, she had never met anyone like him.

"An apology would mean that I'm sorry for something that I had done," he took another step towards her and offered his hand to her as he grinned before continuing, "But if I had not done that, I wouldn't have been able to ask you for a dance,"

Diana kept telling herself not to trust this man, that he was someone who did not abide to all the rules, that he was dangerous. But something in Diana pushed her beyond reasoning, pushed her enough that she now stood inches away from this man with her hand in his. She froze the moment she realized what she had done, she wanted to retreat and take her hand back out of his. But she lost her chance the moment she gazed into his deep blue eyes. She lost all cognitive thought as she felt her being flee into the depths of the oceans his eyes had casted, little did she know that she had him under her spell as well.

"It's best to air dry your dress anyways," His voice snapped her back to reality and she once again felt the irritation that she had housed easier.

"Just one song," She said sternly as she looked away from his eyes, refusing to be hypnotized again.

He led her to where all the other couples were dancing, and gently pulled her closer to him as they began their slow dance. She was taller than most women, but he was also taller than most men. The couple stood out amongst the others, they were not awkward like some. If anything they had the most chemistry, as if they had been dancing with one another for years on end. He found it easy to concentrate on her and her features because of how natural it felt to dance with her, it took no thought or planning as to what the next move would be. A minute passed before she finally said something,

"What's your name? If I may ask that is," she felt the involuntary shake of her voice from how nervous she was really feeling.

"Thomas," He simply replied, he smiled on the inside at how nervous he had made her,

"Thomas…?" She left open ended trying to get him to give her his last name,

"Yours?" He brushed away her question with much ease,

"Diana," She hesitated a bit before responding because she was not used to people asking for her actual name. They usually just referred to her as 'The Empress'.

"Diana…?"

"Of Themyscira," She asked herself why she was giving him this information, it was pointless small talk.

"Thomas of Gotham," a crooked grin was painted across his face as he found it quite enjoyable to be playful with her. His grin was met with a gasp from her as she took in the sight of possibly the most handsome man she had ever met. She couldn't even find time to be annoyed with his answer as she was busy trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. This man did strange things to her, and she didn't know whether she should be okay with it or not.

Bruce enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms, even though they weren't holding each other as an intimate couple would be. She was different. She wasn't like The Supreme at all, but he had known this. She was his ally not by choice, but rather by force. The island of Themyscira was unchartered by the rest of mankind, it was an island that was hidden. But once the Supreme had begun taking over, he had found the island. After losing a great number of her people and her mother in an attempt to stop them from taking over, Diana was forced to decide whether; her people died or joined the Empire. He understood her position; he too had been faced with life-changing decisions to which many lives were at stake. He didn't blame her for what she had done, and he liked that she seemed different from the others-she still had her independence. Her independence, which at the moment was strictly guarded by multiple security guards around the room. He began to feel like a mouse in the field that was trying to escape the murderous eyes of numerous hawks.

"Guess babysitting is a rather high-paying job," he jokingly chuckled, secretly hoping that the security guards had heard his remark.

"I can handle myself just fine," she pouted, obviously not too happy with the security guards herself. Bruce lit up inside at the sight of her pouting, it was absolutely adorable. He mentally noted that he would have to make her do it again sometime.

"Seems like you're the only one who thinks so," He kept teasing, pleased that he could make the well-put-together Empress so flustered. He noted to himself that the song was coming to an end, and as much as he would like to dance with her for the rest of the night-he still had a person to find.

"Don't push your luck," she stammered, her frustration with the man for continually teasing her on the rise. She felt him lightly release his hold on her waist and hand as he leaned his head in towards her. She flinched as she felt his dark hair brush against her forehead. What was he doing? He's too close!

"I'm sure you could handle me just fine, princess," He whispered into her ear as their cheeks touched causing her to squirm and turn a bright shade of red. Before she could even say anything, he retreated and flashed her another crooked grin before turning around and walking into the crowd.

"What an infuriatingly insufferable man," she hissed under her breath as she hid her face, hoping that no one would notice how bad she was blushing.

* * *

Bruce spun in slow circles as he made his way through the crowd; he had no luck in locating Jason. The auctioning had already begun and it was becoming harder for him to make his way through the mass of people. He was hoping that people would start filing out soon and he would weed his way through the remaining people. His thoughts kept veering off towards Diana, and it took almost every single drop of willpower for him to keep himself from looking for her. If only Jason turned up faster, he wouldn't be struggling with himself this much. His eyes kept busy as he quickly looked past the faces of the people in the crowd. He was about to head over to the bar for a break when he heard a familiar name over the microphone,

"This right here is Jason! Rip at the age of 23, he WAS one of the lead officers of the _resistance_," the announcer hissed the last part, "but ladies and gentlemen, he is here now and here for _the purge_,"

Bruce took no time to process this new information; his body reacted by clenching his fists and jaw. Jason was here alright.

* * *

So! What'd you guys think of this second chapter? I tried to make it more fast-paced than my other stories, hopefully I've done a decent job of doing so.

Have any questions/remarks/comments? Hit me up with a review :)!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: HELLO! Sorry It's been a really long time since I've updated, but here it is! I actually saw the trailer for The Purge 2 recently and I was mindblown because they're using a similar concept as the purge that I talk about in this story. Thankfully though, watching that trailer made me want to revisit this story.

I'll warn you, it's a little dry and my writing is a little rusty. I hope you enjoy it regardless!  
Let me know what you think with a review :)!  
Thanks!

* * *

It took years upon years for Bruce to reach the point where he could keep his cool demeanor without having to think about keeping it in check. But at that very moment it took every bit of his willpower to control his carnal desire to beat everyone in that room senselessly-especially Jason. He had to remind himself to stop clenching his fist so tightly; otherwise people around him might start thinking he was trying to start a fight. His eyes were locked on Jason's bowed head as he silently begged for his friend to look up and acknowledge his presence. At that very moment he could not decide if he wanted to punch him or hug him. Bruce's jaw clicked at the thought of giving his young ward an earful as soon as he got him back safe and sound.

"Let the bidding begin!" Bruce looked up at the announcer who had telltale grin painted on his lips. He knew he was just doing his job, but that did not stop him from wanting to bash the man's teeth in.

"Shall we start at 500 credits?" He coaxed the audience while waving his hand towards Jason, "Anybody?"

Bruce forced himself to stand on the side, at least for a little bit longer. He did not want to stand out amongst the crowd and draw in unwanted attention. His steel blue eyes scanned the room, waiting patiently for someone to bid in. There was a lot of chatter, but no one seemed to be interested in taking in a hostile resistance member under their roofs.

"500?" The announcer walked across the stage trying to get the audience more interested, "500? _Anybody_?"

The announcer had taken notice of the heads that shook in disinterest and the bodies that were turning away and heading towards the bars. He clicked his tongue as he straightened out his long coat, this was not a good turn out and if The Supreme finds out he definitely won't be attending the next purge. And then, something clicked in his head. He had an idea. He quickly walked over to the middle of the stage where Jason remained knelt with his head bowed and roughly grabbed a fistful of the young man's hair. The announcer jerked Jason's head up by his hair so his face was no visible to the retreating crowd. A few gasps were heard throughout the ball room, but many more footsteps were heard and people began to shuffle closer to the stage. Bruce unfolded his arms from his chest as his entire body went into battle ready position, ready to fight whoever had marred Jason's face like they had. He then realized how hopeless this all was, he had basically come here just to witness his friend's death.

Jason's face had countless cuts running across it with what looked like cigarette burns dotted across his neck and temples. There was dried blood clinging to the skin as fresh blood trickled down and crusted over the old. Bruce silently begged for Jason to open his eyes and look at him, he needed to see if there was any fight left in his eyes. He needed to know that he did not give any valuable information away to the empire regardless of how much they tortured him. He needed to know that he did not give up on living. Bruce began to push his way through the growing crowd, hearing words of pity left and right as he approached the stage. He needed to get Jason out of here, right now.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see… This young man is quite the handsome fellow," The announcer sported a maniacal grin even though the crowd did not give him the reaction he was looking for, "What could this face be used for? Well the official Purge manual states that you can use Purgees as: Housekeepers, Waiters, Janitors, Drivers, dishwashers, workout buddies, fishing buddies…"

He kept going on as he listed multiple occupations visually counting with his fingers until he paused for a moment and formed an even bigger inhumane grin before finishing his list, "… and victims of unforeseen- _death_,"

The announcer now had the attention of every single person in the room. He gleamed as he shoved Jason's head to the floor and spun in a circle towards the side of the stage and took off his hat.

"Now that I have your undivided attention…" He raised his eyebrows and laughed, "I would like to start this bid over again… at 600 Credits,"

Bruce turned his attention back towards Jason and began to breath heavily as he felt himself succumbing to the pull of panic and despair. Jason was going to die, either by the hands of the Supreme or some brainwashed member of this screwed up society. People began to bid left and right as the announcer's smile began to grow wider and wider.

"1000 Credits, come on – I know you people can't keep your hands off of a prize such as this," He coaxed them even more. More hands shot up into the air and he let out an uncontrolled laugh. That was all it took. One slight suggestion to kill the man and the crowd had gone mad with a murderous desire. There was absolutely no crime left except for when they came across the resistance. The people of this society had silently lusted after a chance to let out their carnal desires, and finally they found the opportunity. The announcer just bathed in the glory he had bestowed upon himself, he was in a sense – their savior. He always bore the seed of darkness somewhere deep inside of himself, but he hid it and ignored it afraid that it would not be acceptable. But now he regrets shunning that side of him, he should have brought it out a long, long time ago. He broke out into laughter once more. These people had always needed him.

Bruce watched as the sea of people began to get desperate to win the bid. The idea of killing a prize they bought, especially a prize that was a part of the resistance was far too appealing to them. No one would know and even if they did, they would receive a pat on the back for doing a "good deed" for society. He felt his heart sink at the notion that society had become this broken in the past few years. But this was no time for him to contemplate how far gone society has become, he had to save Jason. He placed his hand on the stage and readied himself to rescue Jason when he heard a familiar voice shout from the other side of the room,

"10,000 credits," her voice resonated throughout the space and everyone noticeably quieted down. It was their Empress speaking. Her eyes were focused and emotions unreadable. Bruce pulled back his hand as he tried to assess her intentions. Should he trust her intentions? A slight frown replaced the huge grin the announcer had just a second ago. He was just starting to have fun.

"Well then, any takers?" His energy was noticeably lower than it was before, "no? Okay, he's all yours your highness,"

"Thank you mister Kerr," she bowed her head ever so slightly as she motioned for her female guards to go escort Jason off the stage. The man rolled his eyes and began to walk off the opposite side of the stage. As he reached the end of the stairs he was attacked by a young woman in pig tails.

"You were amazing out there Joe, I'm so proud of you!" Her voice was pitchy and raspy at the same time. Bruce glanced at the couple, trying to memorize what the estranged man had looked like. He would have to look into his bio some more, there was something up with him.

"Yeah Yeah, it was going great till miss high and mighty decided to ruin all the fun," He huffed as he put his arm on the young woman's shoulder, "let's get out of here,"

Bruce turned his attention back to where Jason was. He felt his spine tingle as his body froze and refused to cooperate with him. His blue eyes were met by a darker shade of blue that was bordered with a deep crimson color. Jason's eyes widened as he recognized his mentor in the crowd. Bruce's breathing became shallow, he felt like there was acid being poured over his heart. The guards began to pull Jason away towards Diana. His former apprentice's eyes were filled with fear and despair. Tears began to form at the edges of his eyes as they forcibly pulled him away from Bruce. Bruce ground his teeth and shut his eyes tightly, he silently promised Jason that he would come get him as soon as possible. He just could not watch as they dragged him away from him at that very moment, the look in his friend's eyes was too much for him to bear in order for him to remain in control.

"BRUCE!" Jason's voice shred through the room as he pleaded for his mentor to come save him. Bruce's eyes opened wide as he stared at the floor, they stung as he tried to reign in the tears. His friend was calling out to him and seeking his help, but he could not do anything. He felt like a coward, completely useless. He was reliving his nightmares from 20 years ago. 'They killed them. They killed them both. And they'll kill them all,' the voice of his younger self pounded through his head reminding him of his past failures and failures to come. He shook his head as he reached up with his hand to cover his tear filled eyes.

"Forgive me," he quietly whispered as he turned and walked towards the exit.

-To Be Continued-

* * *

A/N: There's a pretty big Easter egg in there. I didn't want to just throw it out there, but rather give you a moment to be all mind-blown and feel awesome for picking up the references. Hopefully it worked :)!

Thanks for reading!  
Leave a review :D! I want to see where you guys think this story is gonna go~


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Back to Back updates! Hope you're as excited as I am!

I apologize for the chapter before. I realize that it was a little O/C of Bruce to just leave Jason there, but he was planning on coming back for him. He felt like he could trust Diana with Jason's life. This chapter is also going to be a little dry/fillerish, but please bear with me! :D

I did a quick sketch up of what I would imagine Bruce to look like in this story. Keep in mind that this is A/U so I didn't want to make him look too rough/experienced and his outfit doesn't reflect his normal batsuit. If you want to see you, you can go to my profile and I provided the link to my deviant art account there!

Enjoy &amp; Thanks for all the reviews :)!

* * *

Jason's body was drenched in sweat as he moved around restlessly in his sleep. His eyes were rapidly shifting underneath his eyelids as he ran as fast as he could in his nightmare filled slumber. He swung his arm over to the side of the bed as he murmured Talia's name with pain laced in his voice. His hand hit something hard causing his eyes to jolt open in surprise. His dark blue eyes scanned the unfamiliar room warily, he had no idea where he was or what he was doing there. He didn't raise his head or make any noticeable movements just in case he was being watched. The last thing he remembered was being taken away by the guards at the auction, and shouting out Bruce's name when he saw him. He shuddered on the inside and silently cursed at himself for blowing his mentor's cover. Hopefully Bruce was okay, but knowing him he definitely made it out safely. Everything after that was fuzzy though, he could barely process how long he's even been asleep for or what time of the day it was. His thoughts were shoved aside as soon as he heard a door creak open. He shut his eyes in hopes that they would think he's still asleep, he doesn't know what they'll do to him if they knew he was awake.

"How is he?" A gentle yet regal female voice asked as the door was closed quietly.

"He's awake," A smirk could be heard through the man's low voice from across the room. Jason cursed to himself; of course there was a guard in the room… Just his luck.

"Steve, could you give us some privacy?" Her voice was a little gentler this time, perhaps reaching out to the man in a more personal manner. Jason felt the awkward silence seep into the room; the guard was obviously not a fan of being asked to leave the two of them alone.

"Are you sure? I don't think that's a wise decision, this man was a part of the resistance. You don't know what kind of tricks he's hiding up his sleeves," Jason mentally rolled his eyes, sounded like a personal issue – schoolboy crush perhaps.

"Yes, you don't have to worry about me. We both know I can handle myself just fine," she reasoned with him, her voice still calm and collected.

"Not to step outside of my boundaries, but might I ask why you're so interested in this… _mutt_," He practically spat the last word.

"If I recall correctly, it was only 10 years ago that you too were once considered a 'mutt', so yes. You have stepped far outside of your boundaries," Her voice remained even but stern, "I advise we leave it at this. If you would kindly see yourself out…"

Jason could practically feel the heat rolling off the guard's enraged self-esteem. He wouldn't be too happy if someone spoke to him the way she did either, but he deserved every bit of that for referring to him as a mutt. Especially when the guard knew he was awake and listening. Jason heard the door open for a few seconds before shutting once more. He took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect from this witty woman.

"Jason? How are you feeling?" He heard her ask as she made her way towards the foot of his bed, "Would you like some water?"

His eyes opened involuntarily at the mention of water. He hadn't even realized how thirsty he actually was until she mentioned it just now. He reluctantly sat up and suppressed a groan from escaping his aching body. She reached out to try and help him get adjusted and comfortable, but he just looked at her with murderous eyes.

"I'm not here to hurt you," She lowered her hands as she took a step back to reassure him, "If anything I saved you,"

"Water," he muttered with slight difficulty due to his dry throat. He sensed that this wasn't going to be a short conversation.

* * *

"Secretary Luthor!" Steve called out to the bald man at the other end of the hall, "Secretary Luthor, I have something important to discuss with you,"

Lex Luthor took a deep breath before turning around to face the general. Although he was chosen to be the secretary he absolutely hated having to communicate with people. He would rather live out the rest of his life just directing and telling people what to do without having to actually have a conversation with them.

"Yes?" He drew out in an exasperated voice, emphasizing how little he actually cared.

"The Empress-"the general started but was cut off by his superior,

"What about her?" Lex gave the other man his full attention now. Anything that involved the amazon had always peaked his interest. Not only was she the most beautiful woman in the entire world, but she was also the most powerful woman…even more powerful than himself-and he didn't like that one bit. Lex had always felt like it was his God-given right to be the Supreme's right hand, not some peace-loving Amazonian slut. She barely shared any interest with the cultivation of the Empire anyways; she was just the Supreme's trophy wife. He would do anything it takes to take away the position she had held in this new world, anything.

"Uh, well…" Steve began to mumble. Seeing how eager Lex was to hear about potential bad news regarding the Empress he began to feel hesitant about snitching.

"For God's sake, what is it?! I'm busy and you're stalling," Luthor spat at him. He had plans to go do some more research on a suit he was producing.

"The Empress… she has that resistance captive and I feel as though she's up to no good,"

"No good, as in…?" Lex's patience was running thin.

"I think she wants to learn more about the resistance and so she bought him. It's not that I think she's up to no good but rather she's just curious and I don't think that…"

Lex blocked him out as he droned on and on about how his little fairytale princess was misguided and just needs to be told that she shouldn't do what she was doing. His lips curved into a menacing smile as a plan had just formed in his head. This was his chance.

* * *

"I had asked Steve to make sure your wounds get treated…" Diana sighed as she pulled up a chair to the side of the bed, "I'll have someone look at you right away,"

Jason still remained wary of the woman. Even though she seemed kind and came with innocent intentions, one could never be too safe with members of the Empire-especially not one of the leaders. He watched carefully as she moved to sit in the chair besides his bed. She wore a long deep red coat with a white button down that had golden embellishments. Her long legs were draped in dark blue-almost black skinny pantsuits. A long sword hung from her hip with a golden rope wrapped around like a sheath. His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look at the sword, but his view was cut off when she sat down and hung the sword on the back of her seat. His eyes were now looking directly into her cerulean blue ones.

"What do you want?" He rasped. His voice was still a bit rocky from his previous lack of hydration.

"Some refer to me as the Empress, but you can call me by my real name- Diana," She offered him a small smile in hopes that she could help him break down the walls he has built between the two of them, "You've been asleep for 3 days now,"

His eyebrows rose as he tried to process whether or not she was lying to him, "did you sedate me?"

"No, your body was just exhausted from the torture they induced upon you," Her eyes softened at mentioning the torture, "I'm sorry you had to endure that,"

Jason narrowed his eyes at her, trying to interpret whether or not she was being genuine when she extended her apology to him. She did not give off any vibes of being manipulative or ill-intentioned. She seemed 100% genuine, but he just couldn't believe it that easily. She was 2nd leader of the Empire; she led the people who killed his people. But he also knew about her and her people. They were forcefully taken from their island and some were used as prizes in the purge, but most of them remained safe because of her and her mother's sacrifice. For now, she was the only person he could trust. She's kept him alive till now, so hopefully she'll keep at it.

"Jason, I didn't buy you from the Purge to force you into doing labor work or… to kill you," she started, "to be honest, I'm just curious about where you come from."

"Gotham. The place you people destroyed," he replied curtly,

"The resistance," she gently corrected, "I need to-no… I _want _to learn more about the resistance,"

"We're the complete opposite of you twisted people, I'm sure you could figure it out," He crossed his arms over his chest, "If you're saying you bought me just to chit-chat about the resistance I'm going to have to call bull-shit,"

"I just want you to tell me how it is, I don't want any locations, names, titles, plans or any of that," Her voice was gentle as her eyes lowered to her hands that were crossed on her lap, "it's for my people,"

Jason furrowed his eyebrows as he assessed the woman sitting in front of him. He didn't know what was going on in her head. She must be completely nuts to want to join the resistance after being pampered up here and treated as though she was a queen. But he felt a small yearning to reach out to her and ask what her side of the story was. He knew this was a terrible idea.

"It's like family," his response surprised her as she looked up and saw his face painted with a nostalgic expression, "It's the closest thing to a family I've had since the moment I was born,"

Diana adjusted herself in her seat as she listened intently,

"I was raised by these people, and I learned and grew to love and appreciate them on my own," he smiled briefly before continuing, "And now that I've found something to finally love, you people come and take it all away,"

Diana bit her lower lip and she lightly nodded her head, "I too, have shared the experience of having my loved ones taken away,"

"Yeah, when you were weak," he scoffed, "Now you're the second most powerful being on this God forsaken planet and you're not doing anything to stop them from taking our loved ones away,"

Diana clenched the fabric of her jacket and clenched her teeth, "you don't understand,"

"No, I really don't," Jason continued to antagonize her, completely aware of how he was aggravating her, "I don't understand how any person with even an inch of moral conviction would allow this sort of genocide to continue,"

Diana got up from her seat as soon as he finished his sentence and grabbed her sword from behind the chair, "You're right. I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time, but now I am."

She walked over towards where Jason remained in the bed and raised her sword towards him with the handle facing him. Jason who was just getting ready to fend for his life looked up at her in utter confusion, was she surrendering to him? Did she expect him to take the sword from him? He cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to give him a clue as to what she wanted him to do.

"Take me as your hostage," she extended the sword out towards him more, "Take me to your leader,"

* * *

A/N: I hope this chapter was a bit better than the previous one~

Let me know with your comments/reviews!  
I'll try to update ASAP!

Don't forget to check out my deviant art account on my profile! I'll also be adding different characters to the gallery as we go onward with the story.

Thanks for reading! :)!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

Another back to back update?! I know! It's crazy!

This chapters a bit longer, but I promise less dry than the previous two!

Huge shoutout to: Acarolin95, Originalmartus, mrhawkprime, Lloyd RPGFan, Mbembet, dancingandsingingintherain &amp; Mr. Guest for taking the time to leave me reviews!

Enjoy!

* * *

Everyone dropped what they were doing as they witnessed Dick storm through the halls leaving a trail of displeasure in his wake. None of them had ever seen the usually friendly and outspoken young man in such a terrible mood. His eyebrows were set in a determined angle with his eyes ignited with fury. He was a man on a mission and no one dared to get in his way. He made his way to the entrance of the conference room and forced the door open.

"Bruce, are you out of your goddamn mind?!" He growled as he walked right up to his mentor, "Barbara is NOT coming with us on this mission,"

Dick never referred to Barbara as "Barbara", he usually always called her by her nickname, "Babs". Unless of course he was discussing a serious matter, which he rarely did. Bruce remained stoic as he continued to pack his utility belt with supplies. He was acting as though he didn't hear a single word the younger man had just spoken.

"Are you serious?" Dick roared as he grabbed the taller man's shirt by the collar and forced him to look into his furious glare before he evenly said, "you're more selfish than I thought,"

Bruce grabbed Dick's wrist and twisted it, forcing him to release his grab on his shirt. Dick jumped up in agonizing pain as Bruce slammed his hand down against the table causing the smaller man to heave his body upwards in an awkward, uncomfortable angle. Bruce leaned down so he could speak into his former apprentice's ear.

"If I was truly selfish, I wouldn't dare bring any one of you with me," his voice was clam but chilling. Dick just stared at the steel table as he soaked in Bruce's words. Bruce shoved Dick's arm away before releasing him and going back to packing his utility belt as though nothing had ever happened between the two of them. The younger man just stood there glaring at him as he rubbed his bruised wrist. He knew his mentor was the least selfish man he had ever come to know, but he couldn't stand the thought of Barbara getting hurt out on this mission.

"I don't understand why Barbara has to partake in this missions," his voice was more calm than it was just a few minutes ago, "if it needs to be a girl… why not Stephanie or c-"

"Barbara is the most qualified member when it comes to computers. I need her help breaking into the mainframe and gathering as much intel as possible," Bruce replied as he walked over to the other side of the table to grab more equipment.

People started filing into the conference room, and Dick just shuffled back and forth uncomfortably. This conversation was far from being over, but he would have to drop it for now. Selena, Tim, Helena and Barbara silently made their way around the table, taking notice of how there was awkward tension that hung in the room. Tim looked up knowingly at Bruce; he knew that Bruce had most likely just given Dick a good old whooping. Even though Bruce and Dick were great friends, they had a lot of differences and the only way they got past them was to argue with each other.

"I still don't approve of this," Dick muttered as he shook his head/.

"Let's begin the mission brief," Bruce commanded as he turned on the projector and gathered everyone's attention, "Dick, Selena and Helena…You're in charge of recovering Jason. Our scouts found out that he's located at the City Hall. We still have the blue prints and so the three of us will go into details after this briefing,"

Selena and Helena nodded their heads while Dick remained on the side with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Tim and Barbara watched Bruce excitedly as they waited to hear what he wanted them to do.

"Tim, Barbara and I will locate the mainframe and gather as much intel as possible at the location. We'll also serve as a diversion if necessary," Bruce pointed at a location on the map as he went on explaining the mission.

Dick looked up and watched as Barbara nodded energetically at everything Bruce was telling her. He ground his teeth as he dug his nails into his arms, he didn't like this one bit.

* * *

"You're insane," Jason grunted as he put his palm on the butt end of Diana's sword and shoved it back towards her, "you must be,"

Diana just sighed as she brought her sword back to her side and thought about how she could possibly convince him that she was being genuine with her request. Jason just watched as her shoulders gave way a little, she looked defeated yet at the same time more determined. He had no idea what the hell was going on in this woman's head. For her to offer herself up as a hostage or even as a prisoner was far too good to be true, he wouldn't fall for something that easily.

"Ever since I was a child my mother had warned me about men," She began as she fumbled with the end of her lasso on her sword's hilt, "she had told me about how evil they all are with their treacherous deeds and insatiable desires to ruin this world one way or another,"

Jason raised a scrutinizing eyebrow, he knew Amazon's disliked men, but he didn't think they would dislike them to the point that they portrayed them as some kind of spawn of the devil. He decided to remain silent and let her continue her story.

"I never believed her, and after coming to this 'world', I know for sure that I was right in not believing her words," her blue orbs pierced his as she finished her words, "it is only those who succumb to those desires. Those are the men that we must break,"

Jason felt chills tremor though his body as he felt the waves of conviction roll off of her words. She was seeking justice, and nothing more.

"I'm sure you've heard my people's story," her once vibrant eyes became dimmer as she remembered her own history, "_He_ came and sought to conquer my people for the gifts the god's have bestowed upon us. Of course we refused at first, but after losing many of our sisters and my mother in our battle against them we agreed on a truce. I had promised my mother at her deathbed that I would protect my sisters. So I agreed to be his right-hand, and in turn he promised he would give my people peace and a place in his kingdom."

Diana sat up straight and looked directly into Jason's eyes with determination as she continued, "the reason why I am reaching out to your people is because my god's had delivered a message to me a few nights ago. _He_ is challenging my gods. He wants to kill them to gain their thrones. And he is winning."

"That's a cool story and all, but what? You want a joint coup d'état? Is that it?"Jason mocked as waved his hand,

"Yes," she simply replied, "basically,"

He gave her a credulous look, "you ARE fucking insane,"

Diana smiled as she gave a short quiet laugh, "doesn't change the fact that I'm onto something though,"

He shook his head in disbelief. What had he gotten himself into?

"I still don't believe you. What if I did take you to my leader and you tried to pull a fast one?"

"I have this," she unwound her lasso from her sword and held it up for him to see. It had an ethereal glow to it; Jason knew that it was no normal piece of rope.

"Am I supposed to tie you up and hope that you speak the truth?" he mocked,

"Yes actually… it's blessed by my gods, it causes whoever is tied to it to tell the truth and nothing but," she grinned as she saw his expression change to one of utter disbelief.

"And I'm supposed to just nod my head and believe that?"

"I can try it on you first and we can see if it's true," she suggested as she got up and walked over towards the bed once more. Jason lifted up his hands to prevent her from getting any closer.

"I'd rather not take the chance and spill any secrets,"

"So there's a part of you that believes that it might be true," She wriggled her eyebrows playfully as she stood a couple feet away from the bed. He just rolled his eyes as he reached out and grabbed the rope from her. He felt that he didn't need to even use the rope to confirm that she was telling the truth. Bruce had trained him to be insightful, but he had also trained him not to trust others too easily. But he knew already that he could trust this woman.

"I guess I'm tying this to your wrist?" he asked as she handed him the lasso and offered up her wrist for him to tie the lasso on. She simply nodded her head and watched as he began to wrap the magical piece around her hand.

"Thank you," she lightly whispered with a faint smile across her lips. Jason paused in the middle of tying the knot to process her innocent gesture.

"No prob," he muttered back as he went back to finishing the knot, feeling a slight lump in the back of his throat. It had been awhile since anyone had thanked him for anything. He was always under the shadow of Dick and Bruce and so he was always expected to meet their level of performance, but rarely did so. If anything he was always seen as the rash one who made things worse for everyone.

"Alright so, I just ask a question and you answer?" He asked as he sat back up with the lasso in his hands,

"Yes," she replied with a monotone voice,

"Is it working? How can I tell?" He raised an eyebrow expectantly,

"It's working. You can ask me any question and decide for yourself if it's the truth," Jason looked up thoughtfully at that notion. He was thinking of clever questions he could ask when an idea popped up.

"How's the Supreme shithead in bed?" He asked. He was going to have so much fun with this little tool. Diana just rolled her eyes. Regardless of what hardships Jason had experienced throughout his life, he was still a 23 year old man with raging hormones.

"I wouldn't know," a glare followed her monotone voice,

"Why not? I'd imagine you guys have so much free time between purging people and conquering the world," he laughed at his own doing,

"I'm only his right-hand, not his Wife or maiden," she stated with a little more attitude laced into her voice,

"I bet he gets more action with his actual right-hand anyways," he blurted out, but quickly regret it as soon as he saw Diana's eyes glaze over with a murderous look.

"I'm just kidding," Jason waved his hand with a chuckle, "Anyways, where were –"

He was cut off when the door swung wide open and a group of men led by Lex Luthor stormed through the door. He knew he was in trouble when he looked over and saw panic painted across Diana's face.

"By orders of the Supreme leader himself, I am taking this resistance member into custody," Lex barked as he forcefully grabbed Jason by his shoulder and roughly shoved him off the bed.

"For what reason?!" Diana demanded as she untied her lasso from her wrist,

"He is a threat to the rule of the Supreme leader and holds valuable information regarding the resistance. For the sake of this empire we will take him away to our facilities," Lex spat with a smirk stamped on his face. He would get some truth serum in the boy and force him to tell him everything he and the Empress had discussed.

Diana tried to stand in Lex's way as he tried to walk out with Jason, she refused to let him have his way. Lex's smirk disappeared and instead was replaced with a sneer as he signaled for Steve to come in and intervene.

"Sorry your highness," Steve apologized as he grabbed her by her shoulders and moved her to the side so Lex could walk past them and out the door, "I didn't mean for this to happen, I mean I-"

He was interrupted with a smack across the face that made him stumble a few steps from where he originally stood. Diana just closed her open hand into a fist as her palm began to sting from how hard she had slapped Steve just now. He deserved it, and perhaps another two would do him some good as well.

"Leave," she demanded as she turned towards the other wall with her head bowed. Her plans had all fallen apart because of some man's determination to keep her all to his self. She needed to get Jason out of Luthor's grasp, fast.

* * *

"This is it," Bruce motioned to the door a couple feet away from them. Tim and Barbara who were right behind him, nodded and quickly got to work. Tim was keeping an eye out for any unwanted guests while Barbara brought out a device that would help her hack into the control panel of the door security allowing her to bypass the identification code that was necessary to get in. Bruce was monitoring the views of the security cameras through his special contact lenses, making sure that they were unseen and remained so.

"Got it!" Barbara whispered excitedly. It was her first time on a mission with Bruce, someone who she viewed as a role model and had a little girl crush on since 5 years ago. She was so happy when he requested that she join him on this mission, but she knew Dick disapproved of it. Dick was her best friend for as long as she could remember. She knew that's been awhile since he first started harboring more-than-friends feelings for her, but she treasured the relationship they shared already and didn't want to take any chances in ruining it. As happy as she was that Dick was so protective over her, he should've known better than to try and baby her. She was skilled in combat and knew how to handle herself just fine, and so she found it degrading that he felt like he had to protect her constantly. Especially when it meant she could've lost her opportunity to finally partake in a mission with the almighty Bruce.

"Awesome Babs!" Tim flashed her thumbs up as he walked pasted her and pried the doors open. Bruce followed in right after him, and she went in last, making sure to close the door behind them.

"Alright, it's not over yet," Bruce stated as he walked over to the main controls of the mainframe. He scanned over the rows of controls and found the one he was looking for. He pressed it and a list popped out on the main screen before a window appeared requesting a passcode. Bruce looked over at Barbara and she instinctively nodded her head with determination before walking over to where Bruce stood. She pulled out a cord that was connected to a drive in her pocket and inserted the other end into the keyboard of the controls and began typing away furiously.

Bruce watched a few seconds before turning to Tim and signaling for him to keep an eye out on the security cameras for him. The teenager gave a sigh of displeasure as he blinked hard twice to accept the feed from Bruce's lenses. He absolutely hated watching the camera feeds, it gave him a headache and it was beyond boring-the worst type of torture.

"Just a few seconds more," Barbara muttered as she fumbled with the keys a bit more. Bruce and Tim gave her a look of surprise, "it's a new usb I developed, transports data 22x faster than normal,"

The two guys just nodded their heads. It's been years since they finally accepted that Barbara would always had tricks up her sleeves, especially when it came to technology. She was a genius that rivaled and even at times surpassed Bruce's level of knowledge when it came to computers.

"Done," Barbara retracted her cord back into her pocket and waited for Bruce to give her directions.

"Alright, we're rendezvousing with team Nightwing in 30 minutes. We have plenty of time left, but let's move along as fast as possible. The sooner we get out the better," he commanded in a low voice. He looked between Tim and Barbara before prying open the door. He waited for them to file out before leaving the room himself and closing the door behind him.

"Well, well… What do we have here?" Bruce felt the small hairs on the back of his neck rise at the sound of the crackled voice; he would recognize that voice anywhere. All three of them turned around slowly to face the owner of the menacing voice.

"No need to be shy you three, you are after all-guests of the house," Bruce's jaw tightened unconsciously as he confirmed his suspicions, it was the announcer from the Purge – Joe Kerr.

"Oh, oh my," The crazy man held out a gun which he waved around as he took a few steps closer towards Bruce, "I would recognize that cute face anywhere, but that makes me wonder why you're _here_,"

Tim and Barbara glanced up at Bruce, trying to depict if this man was truly a threat or not. But by noticing how his jaw was taut and eyes set in a serious glare, they knew this man meant trouble for them. Tim silently apologized to both Bruce and Barbara. He had slipped and stopped watching the security video feeds for a few seconds to avert the headache he had felt creeping up on him. This mad man probably waltzed on in during those few seconds. He had the worst timing ever.

"Jason, was it?" Joe's voice cracked as he stifled a laugh, "You see…my mother always called me pathetic for not being a good friend, but you- you would've made my mother proud. Proud that her son wasn't the most pathetic friend after all,"

Bruce was seething, this man needed to go down. He was a lunatic with absolutely no logical train of thought. Back at the base he tried to do a little research on him, but he came across nothing except that he just appeared in the Empire 10 years ago. There was absolutely nothing on the man except that he was mostly an entertainer, a jester of some sort. His maniacal laughter brought Bruce back to the reality of their situation. He needed to get Tim and Barbara out of there.

"Ohhhhh, let's a nice little game of detective," he smiled ear to ear as he walked up even closer to Bruce, "that little pretty boy Jason is your friend, you came to save him that night, you failed, and so you're here again, but only… to fail…again,"

He breathed the last part of his words as he placed the gun between Bruce's eyes but raised his eyebrows at how the young man didn't flinch. He bursted out into laughter as he spun around and back a few steps so he was a few feet away from Bruce. The other three just watched warily, unable to predict what this lunatic was going to do next. Joe wiped his eyes with his finger pretending to be wiping away tears from laughing so hard. He pointed a finger at Bruce with a teeth-filled smile,

"You're a different kind of crazy," He chuckled with his throat, "But crazy regardle-,"

Bruce's eyes shifted ever so slightly as he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Barbara lunged at the crazy man so fast that he had barely any time to respond. Everything went by too quickly for him to properly register what had happened by the time it had actually happened. All he heard was a gun shot being fired, a scream shredding through his ears and cutting deep into his heart, and a little boy crying for help. Once again, his world began to flood with a crimson tint and the smell of iron seeped into the pores of his skin and he feared that he would never be rid of the smell. But amongst everything, he felt a warmth cascade over his body as he landed on his knees. Green orbs fading in and out as they began to fill with tears. Barbara grabbed his hand with her own and begged for him to help her stop the pain, and the cold that was creeping up on her body. He choked on his words as his eyes welled up with tears of despair once again. His lips parted to say words of comfort to the young woman bleeding out in his arms, but he couldn't find the words to say or the courage to say them.

"Oops," the psychotic man mumbled.

* * *

A/N: It got really dark towards the end, and I apologize :( I needed to do it though!

I'm trying to tie in a lot of references from the original storyline, so hopefully you guys pick up on them... else I might not be doing such a great job at it.

Leave a review, I love to hear everyone's thoughts!  
Thanks for reading :)!  
Till next time~~


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello! Here for a very quick update/chapter. It's short so I apologize, introducing a well-beloved character so I hope that makes up for it!

Thanks for all the reviews.. the good the bad!

-You don't have to read this note below-  
Dear. Mr. Gucci, perhaps you'll decide to read my bad OOC-Character filled failed story once again (for god knows what reason) and come across this little note. Thank you for taking time out of your busy (review-filled) day to carefully analyze my writing in such depth that you've come to the conclusion that I should no longer write anymore. I really do appreciate it! I'm sure reading 5 chapters worth of terrible writing was quite the torturous punishment, but I'm sure it was well worth it because you came to the conclusion that I should no longer write! As bad as a writer as I may be, you are ever the worst reviewer for your lack of an actual account to use to review... or perhaps the lack of etiquette or balls to do it the 'right' way so that I could respond in a more appropriate manner. I hope you have an amazing day filled with amazing characters that fit your perfect criteria!

-Sincerely,  
The Writer who gives less than two shits about your lack of in-character characters that actually HAVE a story in your life.

onwards to the story... :D

* * *

Diana shoved open the double doors as she strode her way into the corridor of the Enforcement Department. The tall lanky receptionist quickly spring up from his seat to give his superior a salute, but watched with wide open eyes as she just passed by him without giving an inch of attention. She could usually walk over to his desk and greet him kindly with some small talk, but not today. It was odd to see her in such a bad mood.

She walked straight down the long hallway heeding no attention to the row of doors on either side of her. Her eyes were set on the last door of the hallway, the one that read "Barry Allen, Chief of Forensics". She started knocking on the door even before her feet were planted in front of it. She needed to know where they took Jason before they did anything to him. Diana knew Luthor always had it out for her-no doubt about it. Between his lecherous gaze and mischievous aura, she knew he was always plotting and scheming something. She had hoped that soon enough, none of that would matter anymore. She was so close to finally reaching out to the resistance and moving along with their plans, but Luthor had to ruin everything.

"It's open!" A voice replied from inside the office. Diana took no time in opening the door and sliding inside the rather messy office.

"Oh, you were the last person I was expecting," Barry muttered as he struggled carrying an impressive stack of documents and folders from his cabinet to his desk. Diana reached out and grabbed half of the stack to help lighten his load. He nodded his head in silent appreciation as he placed the pile down on the desk.

"So what could I do for the majestic empress today?" He mocked as he plopped down on his cushioned rolling chair with a deep sigh and leaned back comfortably.

"Do you know where Luthor took Jason?" She cut straight to the chase, hoping his answer would come just as fast.

"Nope," he watched as she paced back and forth with her hands running through her hair, "Luthor took Jason from you?"

"Yeah, apparently Kal-El ordered him to be taken away… I figured you might've known something," She let out a long sigh. Barry could tell that there was more to this than her 'property' being taken away. He knew the reasons as to why she had purchased the young rebel, but he worried that she was approaching this the wrong way.

"You know I'm just the head of forensics, right? I'm not the jailkeeper or anything," he joked as he ruffled his short blonde hair while grabbing a document from the stack, "Why didn't you ask the Supreme? He has a soft spot for you, you know,"

Diana stopped pacing back and forth and gave Barry her complete attention this time, "You know exactly why I can't do that Barry,"

"Right, he can't suspect a single thing about your plans," he nodded as he threw the document onto the table and picked up a new one to look over, "I really don't think this whole thing will work out for the best Diana,"

"But it's the best-if not the only choice we hae Barry… We're also running out of time," she gave a grown as she was reminded of how little time they had before her gods would have to fight the battle of their lives. Barry was one of the very few people she actually confided in. She trusted him with her life and shared a sibling-like bond with him. He was like her older brother, always looking out for her and being there for her when she needed someone most.

"I wish I could tell you where he is, but if it's Luthor that took him away and not an actual officer then he's probably in the research holding cells," he explained as he got up from his seat and appracoed his cabinet once more, "that's the only place that bald man has full access to,"

Diana nodded and thanked him before turning to exit through the door before she paused mid-step as a thought crept into her mind.

"Barry could you do me one more favor? Could you look into the security check point lists for a 'Bruce'?" She turned her head to look over her shoulder at her close friend.

Barry narrowed his eyes at her letting her know that he knew she was up to something, "Some guy you met?"

She just shook her head as she watched him walk over to his computer to check up on the listing for her. She trusted Barry, but she didn't want to cause him any alarm by saying it could possibly be the name of a resistance member that attended the event last week. It was the name that Jason had called out desperately before he was taken away to her quarters. Barry would do anything to protect her and the innocent people who lived in the empire. She just wanted to make sure whether or not this Bruce character was someone she needed to worry about before she told anyone about it. She would most definitely question Jason about him if she ever got to see him again.

"Nope, there was no Bruce at the check points or even on the guest list," he looked up at her expectantly, wanting to hear a possible explanation for her curiosity in this man.

Diana just nodded in acceptance of the news and was about to leave when something once again popped up in her head.

"Anything else?" Barry asked, noticing how she froze again on her way out.

"Could you also look up 'Thomas'?" she asked, this time she didn't turn around. Something was told her that there was something off about that man, and he might be connected to it all. She was also curious about him in general, but she just wanted to make sure. She heard Barry type on the keys and waited for a few moments, which ended up feeling a whole lot longer than it should have. If he wasn't on the list, then there were a whole lot of other issues that they needed to address.

"Yeah, there was a 'Thomas'," Barry replied as he scratched the back of his head, confused as to where Diana was going about with this.

"Are you sure?" She found her voice a little unsteady, unsure as to whether or not she was glad there was a Thomas on the list.

"Yeah, he's the senior councilman," Barry leaned back into his chair once more with his arms folded behind his head, "Someone you're interested in?"

Diana's eyes widened for a quick second as she began to process the information. It wasn't him, if there was only one 'Thomas' then that wasn't the 'Thomas'. That man had lied to her, and now there exist two empty names but two pieces of the puzzle that fit so perfectly with one another. Diana just grinned as she shook her head and replied,

"Some guy I met,"

* * *

A/N: Again, I apologize for the really short chapter :( Just started my other internship so I can hardly find time to sit and write now, so I figured that I'd rather update with this short one then wait awhile longer!

Thanks again for all the reviews and I hope to hear some more!  
Till next time, Toodles~


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: :)! Because of all the reviews I received in the past 24 hours I couldn't help myself... I had to write more!

A much longer chapter to make up for the one from yesterday! Juicy, Angsty and PROGRESSIVE!

Thanks for those of you who have stuck to my story! And a special thanks to those of you who take the time to leave me awesome reviews~

ENJOY!

* * *

Dick, Helena and Selena crawled through the small vent as quickly and quietly as possible. They needed to reach Jason as fast as possible. Their Intel told them that he was located in the research facility's holding cells, which could mean that they were administering him truth serums. If they didn't get him out of there fast, they might divulge information from him about the resistance.

Dick grunted as they finally reached the end of the air vent. He turned to glance at the two women behind him to give them a nod. He was still riled up from the short argument he and Bruce had back at the camp, but he knew that this mission was what was most important at the moment. He knew that Selena and Helena knew that he wasn't in a good mood. They hadn't said a word to him which was odd compared to their usual teasing attitudes towards him. He appreciate the silence at that moment though, it gave him enough space to think about the mission itself. He silently prayed that Barbara was doing well, he didn't know what he would do if she ever got hurt.

"There he is," Helena whispered as she pointed her finger past Dick and at two men who were pushing a metal table with Jason strapped to it. One of the men was middle aged with a beard an glasses on, the other was younger, taller and was bald. Jason's eye were half-lidded as he seemed to be unaware of his surroundings.

"They used it on him already," Selena commented as she clicked her tongue, "poor baby,"

Dick surveyed the room through the vent's bars and saw a stack of crates piled up high that would be enough cover to hide two of them. He turned his attention back to Jason was and knew that they had to act fast. He turned back to the two women and motioned for Helena to follow him to the ground where they crates were and for Selena to remain there to keep a lookout.

Selena gave a deep sigh as she was disappointed that they wouldn't let her get in on the action some more. They always belittled her capabilities and didn't trust her after they found out she was stealing from the empire in a robin hood-esque manner. It was free supplies so it made no sense to her as to why they were so intent on punishing her for it. She watched as Dick and Helena dropped down and crept their way towards the crates. She looked around and noticed that the bald man had walked over to a container at the other side of the room. The container wasn't transparent and Selena couldn't tell what was inside of it. Watching as he looked around cautiously before opening it, she knew it was something important. That was plenty enough for her. The man opened the lid and a greenish light was emitting from it. Realizing how bright it was, the man quickly closed the container and glance around to see if anyone had witnessed it. The feline fatale just watched with hungry eyes as she just found a new prey to catch and keep.

Dick watched as the bald man walked back over to Jason. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. From what it looked like the two men didn't prove a threat, one just looked like a scientist and the other probably the one who oversaw everything. As Dick carefully assessed the situation Helena received a call through her communication link.

"Helena," she quietly whispered acknowledging that she had received the line.

"Just respond yes or no, no questions or anything," Bruce sounded out of breath and he commanded her what to do "understood?"

"Yes," Helena felt uneasy, usually Bruce was calm and cool but something seemed very off about him at that moment. She wanted to ask what happened but she knew that wouldn't be wise.

"Don't tell Dick anything," he paused and she heard him take a deep sigh on the other end of the line, "Barbara was shot, she's alive but in bad condition so my group is retreating immediately,"

Helena struggled as she felt her throat constrict at the news that Barbara had been injured. The two women were both hotheaded and stubborn so they argued often, but Barbara was like her sister. The ones you hate every once in awhile but ultimately love to death. She could only imagine how much it would have hurt Dick if he knew. She knew that he had been pursuing her for the longest time. She also knew that he and Bruce had argued about her partaking in this mission. She looked over at Dick, feeling sick to her stomach about how he would feel later on once he found out. But she froze as she found her eyes looking into ones filled with hatred and angst. He knew. He had heard everything. She quickly reached out to him to try and calm him down but he swiftly dodged as he stood up from where they hid and glared down at Helena.

"Dic-" she began to call out, unsure how to calm him down before he blew their cover,

"Tell that bastard it should've been him. Tell him that this is all his fault," he growled through his teeth as his anger continued to well up, "it's always his fault,"

"Dick..." She whispered as she felt the hatred for his mentor rise in his voice. It broke her heart to see the usually cheerful young man like this.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" Lex called out as he spotted Dick standing by the crates. He ran over to him with fists ready to strike the intruder.

Not caring that his cover was blown, Dick confronted the other man and countered his punch. All he saw was red as his anger and hatred continued to rise. He would hurt Bruce, it was all his fault for getting Barbara involved in this mission. He knew he should have just forced Barbara to stay behind, but now it was too late. She was shot and it was all Bruce's doing. Luthor toppled over and fell hard onto the floor banging his head on the concrete. But Dick didn't stop his assault, he continued to beat down on the older man.

"Dick! That's enough!" Helena called out as she tie up the other man. She began to panic worrying that Dick was going to go too far. She looked around searching for Selena who should've seen the commotion, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Selena! Stop him!" She called out, hoping that the other woman would hear her and come help.

Punch after punch, Dick kept going at it refusing to stop for anyone. Lex was now unconscious and laying in a rapidly growing pool of blood. The man unaware and numb to the assault that was taking place upon his brutally beaten body.

"Shit," Selena cursed as she turned the corner and saw the mayhem that had taken place in her absence. She ran up behind dick and put him in a headlock in hopes of stopping him from proceeding any further in his assault. She felt her heart fire rapidly when she felt something warm trickle down her arms and thought that he had gotten hurt on the head somewhere. But as she lifted her arm to see if it was blood, she was surprised to find tears instead.

"What the shit happened?" Selena yelled over to Helena who was unbuckling Jason from the table.

"Barbara got shot,"

"Jesus Grayson, you need to keep it together," her usual sultry voice was gone and instead replace with a much lower serious tone.

The young man stopped struggling against her hold and Selena decided it would be okay to let him go. He glanced at the barely recognizable man who lay on the floor in a pool of blood and decided that he didn't regret what he had done to the man. He deserved it for joining the empire and taking Jason away from them. Dick got up and walked over to where Jason lay, he ignored the two pairs of eyes that watched warily.

"Let's go," he simply muttered as he picked up his barely conscious friend and started heading for the exit, "bring the scientist,"

The two women looked at each other before nodding in agreement; bringing a prisoner would be a good idea. Selena went and grabbed a bag to put over the man's head so he wouldn't be about to recognize the location of their base. They made him stand up as they followed right behind Dick who was trying his best to keep Jason standing up so he could walk off the effects of the drugs. Both of them knew that it wasn't a good idea to approach Jason or remind him of what happened with Barbara. They were worried he might break out again and attack one of them this time.

As they turned the corner they heard footsteps rapidly approach their direction. Dick quickly walked over to the wall and gently placed Jason down on the floor so he could confront whoever it might be. Selena placed herself in front of the group, ready for whomever or whatever might be coming their way. She almost relaxed her posture as soon as she saw that it was a tall woman who came around the far corner. But she quickly jumped into a battle ready position as she realized who it actually was, it was the Empress. She hissed as the taller woman continued to approach the group but in a more slow and cautious manner.

"Don't you dare take another step," Selena sneered as she watched with sharp eyes, daring the woman to try and pull a move on her. She had cat-like reflexes and was ready to fight if she had to.

Diana stopped in her steps as soon as she heard the threat in the other woman's voice. She observed the group and noticed that they had retrieved Jason and by the looks of the bag over the man's head, had also took a hostage with them. She nearly gasped at the condition Jason was in. He was pale and his eyes blood shot, it looked like he was barely breathing. What had Lex done to him? She forced the thought from her head as she knew she had more important and immediate matters to attend to. She dropped her sword and lasso on the ground carefully and slowly so she wouldn't alarm the group of resistance members and slowly rose her hands in a notion of surrender.

"I'm not here to fight," she said in a calm voice trying to coax them into believing her innocence, "I just want to talk,"

"So we can be all buddy buddy?" Helena scoffed from behind the prisoner they took,

"Take me as your prisoner instead of him," she offered as she motioned with a nod of her head at the man standing in front of Helena, "he won't do you any good,"

"And you will?" Selena smirked at how stupid this woman must think they are to take one of the leaders of the Empire and have the entire army come after them in search for her,

"Yes, I will explain later. But right now we need to get out of here as soon as possible or else the halls will be swarming with security," she took a few steps closer to them but stopped as she saw Selena crouch lower into a pouncing position, "Luthor just triggered the alarm,"

"That bastard," Dick cursed under his breath as he walked up next to Selena, "If we're taking you, we're taking this guy over here too,"

He pointed his thumb back at the scientist who was silently shaking,

"Please, just let me go!" He begged, "I promise I won't tell any-"

Helen jabbed him behind his thigh with her knee making him stumble, "Of course you won't tell anyone anything…you're coming with us,"

Diana sighed, she didn't want the poor guy to get caught up in all this but it seemed as though it was either they take both of them, or just him.

"How do we know you're not trying to juke us or something," Dick questioned as he gave her a scrutinizing look.

"She's not," All eyes turned towards Jason who was now struggling to get up from the floor but with no avail, "You can trust her, just bring her,"

Diana walked over to where Jason sat, ignoring the sneering and glaring from Selena. She leaned down and helped him get up and in returned received a weak 'thank you' from the young man.

"If Jason says we can trust you, I have no arguments," Dick muttered, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked around the hallways, "you said we had to leave soon right?"

"Yeah, follow me," Diana replied as she slung Jason's arm over her shoulder and helped him walk. Selena just stood behind as the rest of them followed the new member of the group. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the other woman with contempt, who the hell did she think she is?

Helena turned and saw how her friend hesitated to follow so she motioned with a swing of her head that she should just get over it and come with them. Selena reluctantly clicked her tongue as she caught up to the group looking for the way out of this forsaken place.

* * *

Bruce waited outside the makeshift operation room, pacing back and forth peering through the window every now and then. Leslie had told him it would only take a couple of hours to get the bullet out and Barbara stitched up, but it had already been three. It wasn't like Leslie to not keep to her word, he was forced to think that there might have been some sort of complication or something had gone completely wrong. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb as he tried to calm himself down. There was no use in stressing over it now, he just needed to wait and hear back. His thoughts traveled over to Dick and his group, after telling Helena what happened to Barbara she immediately cut communications with him. That worried him as well, there was no telling what could have happened to them and once he tried to get back in contact with them there was no connection. The Empire must have triggered some sort of communications interception device, meaning that they must have been aware of their presence.

He slammed his fist straight into the wall as he replayed what had happened on their mission. It was his fault Barbara was injured-nearly killed. Dick was right; he shouldn't have endangered her like that regardless of how important she was to the mission. He didn't know how he would break the news to his younger friend, there was no way to tell him without Dick getting hurt.

Bruce peeled his knuckle off the wall and gazed at the dent he placed there, then the blood that began to ooze from his knuckles. The madman who had shot Barbara got away, and that too was his fault. He got lost in his thoughts of how he had failed to save another beloved person in his life and let the lunatic get away. He tightly shut his eyes as the man's maniacal laugh filled his ears and drummed through his aching heart. He thought he had complete control over his emotions and actions, but even after 20 years of training himself he still cracked. He was absolutely ashamed and disappointed in himself. He hadn't changed at all since 20 years ago. He wasn't strong enough, and it was hurting those around him, but most importantly it was killing him on the inside. Was he even worthy of being the leader of these people?

"Master," a familiar voice called out to him from the end of the hall. Bruce opened his eyes and looked up at his old friend and gave a reassuring grin,

"Bruce," Bruce corrected, "You know I don't like it when you call me that Alfred,"

"Old habits," the elderly man said with a straight face as he wiped his hands on the apron he always wore around, "Master Grayson and his team has returned,"

"Great, I'll be right there," Bruce replied as he turned to glimpse back at the operation room silently hoping that Leslie would walk out any moment and let him know that everything would be okay, "Thanks Alfred,"

The elderly man replied with a simple nod of his head and turned to return to the kitchen to clean up.

Bruce ran a hand through his short black hair and closed his eyes as he thought of ways he could approach Dick about Barbara. After a short while he realized that there was no easy way, and even if there was, he would be met with the same result. A very, very angry young man.

* * *

Bruce stared at the floor in front of him as he walked to the conference room where he and Dick had their heated argument earlier that day. A lot has changed since that morning and he was afraid it was going to only get worse. He decided that he would be straight forward with the young man and just let him know what had happened, how it happened and even perhaps why it happened. As he walked right up to the open door he was confronted with a fist flying towards his face, but his reflexes were on cue and caught the fist, turning the wrist so the person was crying in pain. He realized it was Dick who had thrown the punch and silently apologized as he knew he deserved that punch, and possibly even more than that.

"So you know," Bruce still held onto the younger man waiting for him to calm down a bit before talking to him, "I'm so sorry Dick,"

Instead of replying with a smart ass comment or even trying to break away from his old mentor's hold on him, he began to sob quietly.

"How is she?" He asked trying to keep his voice even, but finding it hard to do so between his sobs,

"She's in surgery, but Leslie says she'll make it out just fine," Bruce replied, his voice emotionless as he watched his younger brotherly figure's body shake as he let the tears flow. Realizing that Dick was no longer going to respond and had calmed down a bit, he let go of his hand and watched as the younger man unfolded his body to stand up straight. It was then that he noticed a strangely familiar face in the corner of the room. It was a face he wouldn't forget, and judging by the expression she had painted across her face-she recognized him as well.

"You-" He barely got out before he got punched in the gut by Dick. He knew he was going to try something on him again, but he wasn't prepared as he was taken aback by the appearance of the Empress in their Resistance base.

* * *

A/N:

Coming up next... THE REUNION!  
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear back from you guys!  
R&amp;R!  
Till next time~


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hello! Here's the next chapter! Introducing more characters/relationships and DRAMA! Huge thank you to those of you who left me reviews! Enjoy~

* * *

There existed a heavy atmosphere in the room between the two leaders. Everyone else had left the room after they noticed the tension. Dick warned Bruce that there would be much more from where that came from and Bruce just shooed him away. He could let Dick punch him all he wants if that's what makes him feel better simply because he barely feels it. The punch he had just thrown him had caught him off guard since he was appalled to find the Empress just standing there. Helena had rushed Jason to the ER and Selena tried to hang around a little longer with the prisoner they brought. Bruce knew that she didn't like Diana, she felt challenged. But eventually she left the room, sneaking in a kiss on his cheek and giving Diana a sly glance before she strolled out the door with an extra sway in her hips with the prisoner in haul.

Bruce watched her intently as she gently grabbed her sword from behind her and laid it out on the table in front of her. He uncrossed his legs as he leaned over and placed his elbows on the table. She looked up and met his gaze with her own fierce blue ones. He knew that she was mad at him, she felt betrayed even though they had only met for half an hour. But he had a lot of questions to ask her like why she was there? What kind of plans did she have? Did she let them capture her on purpose? Bruce knew the answer to the latter already. It definitely would have taken more than three of them to capture the leader of the amazons.

"Is your real name isn't Thomas," she stated, "its Bruce,"

He just nodded his head, acknowledging that she got it right. He waited silently, knowing that she had more to ask and say.

"Is Jason your younger brother?" Her voice was surprisingly calm. Bruce was used to people raising their voices and flipping tables when they felt like things did not go their way or when they felt betrayed. And above all, instead of asking him where she was or what they would do to her she went straight to asking about Jason.

"Something of the sort," he leaned back in his chair. She piqued his interest. Ever since the moment he met her, she had grabbed his attention and at first he struggled to get out of her hold on him but now he just wanted to get to know her more. The blaze in her eyes told him that she held so much depth to her soul, and her heart carried so many wounds-just like him. There was an instant connection as though the two of them were made of the same fabric. He had finally found someone who could potentially be his companion, a friend he could connect with. But Bruce's mind kept all the excitement at bay as it reminded him that he should not be too easily trusting of someone he had just met. It was take a long time for any kind of bridges to be made between the two of them.

"I see..." She replied after a long pause. She didn't know how to approach Bruce about the topic of creating an alliance.

"You need us," he stated with his deep baritone voice, taking Diana by surprise with his insightfulness, "to bring down the Supreme,"

"How di-" she cut herself off mid-question deciding that it was better not to ask, "will you join us?"

"Depends," he got up from his chair and walked over to the lockers to grab a jacket, "first, get some rest,"

Diana raised a finger to object but he dissuaded her objection by handing her the jacket.

"I'll assign Tim to be your guide, you'll need to wear this to draw less attention to yourself," he went to a cupboard and grabbed a set of keys, "only the commanding officers know of your arrival, so I'd appreciate it if you kept it on the down low,"

Although Diana wanted to argue against him, she knew that she was on their whim. She would need to try her best to persuade them to join her and her forces, even if that meant obeying the privacy and identity rules he was placing onto her. He walked back over to where she sat and gently placed the pair of keys next to her sword and lasso.

"Your room is located across from mine, if you need anything just come by and if I'm not there you can just ring the com-link on the door and it will connect to my portable one," he then nodded his head at her sword, "you can't be seen carrying that around either,"

Diana mentally noted everything he had just told her. She had to process how fast everything was happening. This wasn't how she imagined a discussion for an alliance to take place. He hasn't even asked her any questions.

Bruce walked back to his original side of the table and was about to ask Tim to come in and escort Diana out of there when she asked him a question that didn't quite surprise him,

"How could you believe me so easily?" She asked both him and herself, "What if this was all a scheme to attack your camp,"

"Is it?" He asked as his eyes sharply bore into her. She found herself holding her breath as she shook her head, lost for words as to how this man went about his duties. It was as if he could read her inner most thoughts.

"I'm not sure if I believe you…but I trust you," he stated with a gentle voice,

"Is there even a difference?" she raised an eyebrow, never encountering anyone who had made the comparison before.

"The first of which we gain over time and may lose easily, the latter something we know exists and cannot coerce into existence or nonexistence," he didn't blink as he kept his eyes locked on hers, looking for any hints that she might be hiding something from him. She returned his gaze with equal precision, refusing to waver from his analysis of her.

Although she remained stoic on the outside, Diana had felt a shutter travel through her body on the inside. This man was dangerous; she felt it at first, but now she knew it for sure. Dangerous. Especially for her. She had never felt any sort of attraction to any members of the male population-till now. Even though it was a unfamiliar feeling, she knew what it was and possibly even why it was happening. Besides being absolutely gorgeous, the man had a deep intellectual side to him, one that was only formed from the cracks of the heart and soul. He had hurt, just as she had hurt when her mother was murdered and she had her sisters taken from her. They connected on a spiritual level, one that neither could deny and one that they were both excited and fearful to explore, because never experiencing something of the sort before. Diana snapped out of her trance, she realized how ridiculous she was being; she just met the man a few days ago and she was already labeling him as her soul mate. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him carefully, he would be a great partner in battle, and nonetheless a great ally to have. That was all she could afford right now.

"That being said, we just need you to remain here for the time being while we assess the situation," he took her silence as acceptance, "we can talk more about the details later,"

He gave her a short nod before getting up and heading for the door. He paused real quick before actually walking past the door way and felt like he needed to say this,

"I'm sorry I lied to you," he then quickly strode away without waiting to hear her reply. Diana felt an involuntary tug of her lips as a small and gentle smile formed upon them. She wasn't expecting to hear an apology for his lying to her about his identity; it was all a part of his job and for his safety. But it surprisingly made her very happy that he apologized. She already knew that he was the type of person that didn't say sorry often, but when he did he genuinely meant it.

She glanced around the room warily. It seems as though this would be her new home for a few days, weeks, months… gods know how long. She was now worried about Kal-el possibly sniffing her out and attacking them. She would have to negotiate with Bruce before that happened.

* * *

"Oh, c'mon Dinah," the tall man with blonde hair enticed the woman in front of him, "it'll be so much fun,"

"Don't be ridiculous Ollie," Dinah replied in obvious discomfort at what the man was asking of her, "I don't understand how you and Selina get along so well,"

"What do you mean?!" He asked incredulously emphasizing his words with his hands up in the air, "You know it'll be so much fun, and on top of that it's for a good cause,"

"It only _happens_ to be a good cause. You know that Selina got in trouble for it multiple times already. She promised Bruce she would stop," she narrowed her eyes as venom began to fill her voice, "You're not going,"

"Seriously?" He crossed his arms over his chest, "this is beyond stupid,"

"Yeah, so let's drop it. You're. Not. Going," she pointed a finger wrapped in black leather at him.

He just stood there with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed, he refused to try and understand why she was so against him going hunting and possibly thieving with Selina. There was absolutely no harm, they would just go out for a few hours and come back in one piece.

"I hate this whole Robin Hood act the two of you have going on," she waved her hand as she turned around to walk away from him,

"That's why I'm asking you to come along! Once you go, you'll see why it's not a big deal!" He reached out and grabbed her arm where her elbow bends, "C'mon,"

"And what? We'll be the three musketeers?" Dinah hissed as she pulled her arm out of his hold, "Bruce has done so much for us already…the least you could do is stay put and not cause any trouble. Especially with that vixen,"

Ollie huffed. He hated it when his wife brought up Bruce. He knew she didn't have a thing for him, but he also knew that Bruce did this thing where he involuntarily pulls women towards him.

"Dark brooding bastard," Ollie mumbled loud enough for Dinah to hear. He instantly regretted it as she stopped in her steps and turned to face him with a face of utter disgust painted across her face.

But before she could say anything back to defend Bruce and shun her husband, she saw a large hand reach out from behind Ollie and land on his shoulder with an audible thud. Ollie froze. He was a trained archer and huntsmen, but he hadn't heard one sound or felt any presence till the hand landed on his shoulder. The lack of substance could only mean one thing – the dark brooding man had heard everything. He was afraid to turn around and confront him.

He looked over at Dinah hoping she would help him out in some way or somehow, but he helplessly watched as she just turned and walk away from the two of them.

"Oliver," His deep voice calling the other man to heed his attention to him,

"Bruce," He returned, trying to keep his voice even and equally as intimidating but faltering compared to the other man. He silently cursed at himself for having such a loud mouth at times.

"Where's Selina?" Ollie released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. He knew that Bruce heard what he had said earlier but he was just being the usual stoic leader he usually was and addressing only business. Or was it?

"Why you looking?" Ollie spun out of the man's grasp and turned to look at him. He almost gasped at the site of the notorious leader. He looked like complete shit. But goddamn, even when he looked like shit he was still good-looking. Ollie considered shaving his mustache and beard, but he thought better of it. Dinah would kill him if he did, for all he knew, she was only in it for the facial hair.

"Mission Debrief," If Bruce picked up the hidden meaning behind Ollie's question, he didn't show it.

"Oh, well then…" Ollie wriggled his eyebrows. He never understood how he had such an iron defense against women-that woman in particular. Selina was the definition of femme fatal; she could get anyone she wanted-except for Bruce. He would have to try and coax Dr. Thompkins into letting him know if Bruce had some inner plumbing missing or something. Hell, if he wasn't with Dinah he'd… Ollie didn't bother finishing that thought. He had a slight suspicion that women were gifted with the ability to read minds.

"Queen?" Bruce brought him back, noticing how the shorter man had zoned out, "Selina, have you seen her?"

"Why're you asking me?" Ollie asked defensively, "I only have eyes for Dinah,"

"You were planning on going on a little adventure to the surface with Selina," Bruce stated evenly, "It only made sense to ask you,"

"Whatever," he grumbled as he lifted his chin and turned to the side in annoyance; the damn man was like a detective. Nothing got past him.

"I really don't know where she is," Ollie felt impatient, he needed to go after Dinah before this whole thing blew over, "Look, knowing her… she's already gone,"

After a few seconds of silence from the other man, Ollie glanced over and was met with empty space which was once occupied by Bruce. He quickly searched around to look for where he had gone, but there was no trace of him. He just stood there scratching his head completely clueless as to what had just happened. Bruce had probably just decided that he was no longer needed so went to go find his lost kitten on his own. He turned towards the direction of which Dinah had fled earlier and started walking. He already knew that today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Bruce shred through the halls as he ran past people he would normally greet, but had no interest or time to greet right at that moment. Roy had just called him in over the com link to let him know that Jason was out of bed and causing a rampage. Bruce worried that his younger ward would cause mayhem and hurt not only the others but him. He knew he was still hurting about Talia, but that didn't mean he had a license to hurt anyone and get away with it.

He sharply turned the corner and almost lost his footing as he bumped into Tim and Diana. Tim quickly dodged as he took a step back, but Diana acted on quick reflexes and grabbed Bruce by the arm to prevent him from possibly slipping. He wasn't going to trip, but he was grateful that she had tried to help. He just gave her a slight nod before pulling his arm away from her and continuing his sprint down the hall without a glance back.

"Geez, wonder what's happening… Bruce is never this riled up," Tim snorted as he playfully saluted to his mentor's disappearing figure,

Diana just stood where she was when he had left her and continued to look down the hall, even after Bruce had disappeared around the corner.

"Ello? You good?" Tim waved his hand in front of the taller woman's face trying to get her to snap out of it. She finally came to and apologized to him and he just shook his head while taking a bite out of his apple, "There must be something in the water today,"

* * *

Bruce burst through the door of the infirmary and found Jason's bed empty. He looked around for Roy and Jason but the room was completely empty. He waved his hand over his com-link in his ear and called Roy.

"Yo," he answered, his voice more high pitch than usual, "Bruce?"

"Where are you?" He talked through his teeth. If he found out that this was some sort of joke he would be extremely displeased with the two of them.

"Look, Bruce… Jason's just really stressed don't be-"

"Where. Are. You?" Bruce cut him off as he stamped each word into the com-link.

"Prison wing," Roy sighed, "But seriously don't be too-"

Bruce turned off the com-link as he once again took off in a sprint towards the prison wing, which were thankfully only a few doors down. He wasn't even surprised that Jason had made his way there. Jason was a very rash young man, who thought with his heart more than his head at times. Bruce knew the moment he took him into the resistance that some problems would arise with his rash behavior, but he had prayed that he had gotten over it by now. Talia's death had probably taken away all control he had over that. He was sincerely surprised that he hadn't tried to hurt Diana yet, considering that she was a leader. But the fact that he didn't mistrust her, made him trust her even more.

He punched in the code for the prisoner's room and walked in to a scene which truly broke his heart. In the middle of the room was the scientist they had managed to take from the research facility. His arms rose up like a protective barrier around his head as he knelt down facing the furthest corner from where Bruce stood. In that corner stood Jason with Roy a few feet away from him. Bruce's eyes narrowed as he followed the length of Jason's extended arm and stopped at the contraption that he tightly held in his hand. It was a gun.

"Bruce, I tried to tell him, I tri-" Roy raised his arms defensively hoping that Bruce wouldn't unleash his fury on him as well,

"Shut the hell up Roy, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Jason yelled at the top of his voice, making everybody else except for Bruce flinch.

Bruce raised his gaze to meet Jason's, his younger ward was looking at him now. It was then that Bruce had noticed the white patch of hair that had appeared out of nowhere on his hairline. He felt his jaw tick involuntarily; they had done something to him while he was at their facility. He began to worry, they needed to check up on him and see what it was and if it had any side effects besides the white hair.

"Jason, we need to get you checked," Bruce said with a stern voice, he wasn't trying to reason with him. He was ordering him.

"No shit," He spat with a sarcastic grin, "they did something to me, and he won't tell me what,"

"It wasn't me, I swe-"

"Shut the FUCK up," Jason kicked the man to the side, making him topple over onto his side,

"Jason," Bruce drew his attention back to him, he needed to calm him down, "Let's go. _Now_,"

"You don't understand," the younger man began as he began to circle around the scientist who crawled into a fetal position now, "it's not about me. It's not about saving me. It's about saving the others. We need to stop guys like him from ever doing what they did to me onto the others,"

Bruce felt a tinge of guilt rise as he saw the hate that was so deeply rooted in the younger man begin to rise and infest his logic and mind. He knew where he was going with this. Jason had always struggled with Bruce's rules and moral codes, he tried to respect them, but he rarely understood them.

"It's about you right now," Bruce stated with a more gentle voice than he had before, "Jason, drop the gun,"

"NO! I'm done with your stupid rules," Jason stood back in his original position as he raised the gun and pointed it at the scientists head.

"Todd, Buddy, don't do this," Roy tried to calm him down, "C'mon, you're better than this,"

"I was, till I let too many of them get away," a sneer formed on his lips, "not anymore,"

"JASON!" Bruce leaped across the room trying to shove away the gun. His arm shot up in pain as he felt the bullet puncture his upper arm.

* * *

A/N: SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

I was really excited to write this chapter. I hope I captured everything in a decent manner so that I don't leave any of you guys too confused.

Thanks for reading!  
Hope to hear back from you guys!  
Let me know how you think this will play out from here~


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry about the previous upload of Chpt 9, sometimes that happens when I upload via copy &amp; paste. Shoutout to the guest reviewer who brought that to my attention~

ENJOY! :D

* * *

"I guess we should start a gang," Barbara's brittle voice filled the room, attempting to break the awkward tension, "in order to join, you need a bullet wound,"

Dick let go of her hands which were resting on her lap on top of the blue covers. Noticing his withdrawal, she weakly reached out and grabbed his hands and pulled them back to their previous position. She tilted her head to try and get him to look at her in the eye, causing her bright red hair to cascade over one side of her face.

"Too soon?" She lightly chided, still trying to keep the mood light. She did not receive a response from Dick and instead decided to see if Bruce's reaction was equally as depressing. She noticed that he had moved from his bed and was now sitting on the side of the bed, flexing his wounded arm to try and see how bad the damage was. She decided it was better not to lecture him about staying put for a while. She knew Bruce was hurting the most out of everyone. The past few days have been incredibly rough on him, if it were anyone else in his position they would not have made it this far. As much as she was proud of him for being so strong, she was also annoyed by how he tried to carry everything on his own. It didn't matter how many times she told him it wasn't his fault she had gotten shot, he would always blame himself in the end. Even with this whole ordeal with Jason.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce called out, still inspecting his arm,

"I still can't feel my lower half, but Leslie told me it might take a couple of days," Barbara tried to give him a smile, but found herself struggling to do so. If she hadn't had been so reckless, she would not be bound to this hospital bed. It was a miracle that she even woke up a day after the incident, but even more of a miracle that she was still alive. The lunatic had shot her on the back, right next to her spinal cord. She understood that there was a possibility that she might never be able to walk again, but she didn't want to think about that right now. Bruce needed as much emotional support as he could get and if he saw her in a depressed mood; he would kill himself over it-more than he was already. She wished Dick would stop being so pigheaded and let go of the whole matter, but she understood as well that he blamed himself more than he blamed his mentor.

Bruce slightly turned his body to look over at Dick and Barbara who were located across the medical bay from him. He couldn't tell who was in worse condition; Dick looked sickly from lack of sleep and food, while Barbara looked good for someone who had just taken a life-threatening bullet to the back. He looked back at his left arm which was wrapped tightly in medical tape and gauze to stop the bleeding. He felt numb. Both inside and out. The past few days have truly meddled with his patience and will power, he was left feeling lost and confused as to what he should do from here on out. Jason had attempted to kill someone on his watch; thankfully he was there to prevent it. The scientist had received a small wound after the bullet had cut through Bruce's arm. A couple of stitches and he was sent back to the prison cell, but with higher security of course. Then there was the whole incident with the madman and Barbara, which led to Dick hating his guts. And the cherry on top was the Queen of the Amazons gracing them with her presence. He truly could not decide if that was a good or a bad thing. For someone who was always driven by logic, Bruce simply could not place an understanding of why he felt he could simply trust her. Even if he thought of reasons as to why he shouldn't trust her, his inner voice kept soothing away all the insecurities and telling him that everything she stood for was truth itself.

A knock was heard at the door and everyone but Dick looked up to see who it was. Bruce almost cursed under his breath as the common phrase 'speak of the devil' intruded his thoughts when he identified the intruder as the Empress herself. She first looked over at Barbara and bowed her head as a silent greeting, and in turn received a weak smile from the younger woman. Her azure eyes slowly turned their attention to Bruce who was sitting on the edge of the bed struggling to get his injured arm in the sling Dr. Thompkins had provided him with. She held back a laugh as she walked over to offer him her assistance.

Bruce looked up at her with a stubborn look in his eyes as he did not feel he needed her help to put the sling on, "I got this,"

He grunted as an unbearable pain shot up his entire body when he tried to lift his wounded arm so he could wrap the sling under it. He sharply exhaled his breath as he tried to do it one more time, but was met with the same results. Bruce looked up at her feeling slightly annoyed, and got even more annoyed when he noticed the small grin on her face.

"Could you?" He asked as he looked away feeling slightly embarrassed and ashamed that he had to ask for help, especially from her.

"Of course," She smiled as she sat next to him on the bed and grabbed the sling from him. A barely audible chuckle was heard from across the room and Bruce decided he didn't want to waste the effort of giving Barbara his infamous glare. He watched as she adjusted the strap so that it was large enough to comfortable get his arm through. She worked silently and efficiently, something he appreciated since he rarely got that around here. Bruce's eyes wandered from her hands, up her slender yet well-defined arms, beyond her long graceful neck and to her gorgeous face. He was completely allured as her pleasant lavender-esque scent filled his senses and helped him calm down. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly in frustration as she struggled with adjusting the pocket of the sling now. He just continued to watch as she became more frustrated and bit her lower lip contemplating how she would go about her little mission.

Bruce jumped up when she suddenly looked up at him, causing him to realize how close they actually were. Her eyes were wide with surprise and a small blush started to creep up and onto her cheeks.

"What is it?" Bruce asked, still a bit taken aback by what had just happened,

"You… You just laughed," with a hint of disbelief in her voice,

"No I didn't," he raised an eyebrow at her. Or did he? He honestly couldn't recall if he did or didn't. He was too entranced with watching her struggle.

She just shook her head as she wrapped the sling around his arm and helped him slide it into his pocket. She ran her long fingers over his wound delicately, as if he was made of glass at that very moment. He glanced down at his arm and then back up at her to find her looking at him again.

"Did it hurt?" she asked softly. Her eyes showed emotions beyond his comprehension, why did she look so hurt when it was he who had gotten shot? He wanted to reach out to her and sooth her, tell her that everything was okay and would be alright.

"No, it was mostly just a flesh wound," his voice was his usual serious tone. He didn't want to let her know that she was getting under his skin and past his defenses.

"I didn't mean the bullet," she whispered as she turned her attention back to the wound and withdrew her hand to her lap.

The two of them just remained in silence as her words sunk in. To be honest, it did hurt Bruce more than he thought it would have ever hurt him. To see someone he considers family throw away everything they had built together had made him want to build up the defenses again and never bring anyone close to him before he hurt them, or even worse – they hurt him. One could only take so much before they break down and lose their sanity, Bruce was afraid that one day he might reach that point. What he feared most when he watched Joe Kerr was that he could've became that at different points throughout his life had he lost his control and will power.

"Do you have some time to talk about the alliance?" she asked, her voice more business-like compared to a few seconds ago,

"I was on my way out to meet a number of people," he got up from the bed and grabbed his jacket from the hook on the wall,

"Ah, I see… perhaps some other time then," Diana got up to leave him to his various tasks, slightly disappointed that he wasn't free to talk but understanding that he had responsibilities he had to uphold. She made her way towards the door and was about to say goodbye when he made a suggestion that brightened her mood instantly.

"Let's talk over dinner?" He turned his head towards her as he fixed his collar with his one functioning arm.

"Not like I have anything better to do," she gave him a short grin,

"We can meet in front of your room at 7," he grabbed a small pile of folders in his arm and walked past Diana and out the door.

"Sounds like you'll need a dress," Barbara chimed in with a huge grin on her face.

* * *

"Jason, are you stupid?! What the heck were you thinking?!" Tim yelled at his older brother-like figure through the bullet-proof glass that held him inside, "You shot Bruce, of ALL the people you could've shot,"

"He got himself shot," Roy grunted as he leaned his back against the glass and watched the younger boy make a fool out of himself by lecturing Jason, "Todd here was just doing the right thing, screw Wayne… he deserved to get shot,"

A loud bang by his ear made the red headed young man yelp as he ran away from the glass container and covered his ears. He looked up in surprise to find Jason standing by where he stood with his fist smashed into the thick glass and crimson blood streaming down the see-through fiber.

"The hell was that for Todd?!" He yelled as he swung his arms out to emphasize his irritation and confusion, "I swear to God, if I go deaf…"

"The only thing he ever did wrong was letting those people live," Jason growled through his teeth as he grinded his bruised up fist against the glass, "Don't you dare believe you know any better than him or else you'll be the one deserving to get shot,"

"Whatever," Roy muttered as he took a seat on the floor across from Jason. The two had an interesting relationship. Roy was somewhat of a jerk to everyone around him, especially after his mentor Ollie had just left him to do his own thing after he started dating Dinah. Roy was absolutely disgusted at their relationship, he felt like his mentor had absolutely no dignity whenever he saw the way the two of them interact. But when it came to Jason he was loyal as a dog. He couldn't find it in himself to be an asshole to him as he had been to the other people. They were similar in many aspects and he respected him more than he did most people. If anything, they were like brothers who shared the same experiences, ideas and morals. Roy had agreed with Jason on killing people who had the potential to hurt them, but he also believed that there was a time and place for everything and Jason had acted too brash with the scientist yesterday.

"You blockheads are unbelievable," Tim muttered as he planted his palm on his face and shook his head showing his disbelief, "so stupid,"

"Tim, I'm leaving," Jason announced as he finally pulled his hand away from the now blood stained glass and walked over to stand in front of the boy.

"Doesn't look like you're going anywhere anytime soon," The boy mocked with a crooked grin and raised an eyebrow. Jason was like his older brother, someone he looked up to along with Bruce and Dick. But because they were closer in age, he was easier to approach and so they had spent a lot of time together. Tim always knew that Jason had a dark past and he wasn't as emotionally stable as the others were, but that made him want to look out for him even more. Jason would always give him the cold-shoulder, but he knew that deep inside he cared for him as though he was his actual younger brother.

"I'm going to get out of here, and then I'm going to leave this place," Jason didn't budge as he bore his eyes into Tim's, trying to let him know that he was being serious,

"What? Why?" Tim began to get nervous, realizing that Jason was being completely and utterly serious with him when he said that,

"I can't stay here anymore," Jason stated, "I don't want to fight with Bruce,"

"Is it cause you can't stand letting those people live?" Tim shouted getting frustrated with Jason's selfish demeanor, "Whatever, this is so stupid. DO WHAT YOU WANT,"

He turned and quickly walked down the hall to the exit. There was a part of him that was hoping that Jason was lying and he would stay, but a part of him knew that he would leave. Ever since he had first met Jason, Tim knew that Jason was going to leave at some point. He was too different. What made him such an amazing person was also what drove him to be so angry with the world. He was too passionate and sought for justice and vengeance above all other things. Tim couldn't bear watching as someone he looked up to walked out the door on the family they had all created together.

"That was textbook definition tough loving," Roy whistled as he watched Tim flee the vicinity, "He probably won't miss your ass anyways,"

"Now's not the time Roy," Jason muttered as he turned his back to Roy and walked over to the bed, "When did Kori say she would be ready to go?"

"Right about now should be right," he grunted as he got up and off the floor, "So how are we doing this?"

Jason grabbed a pack of stick bombs from his hiding spot under the bed and turned to his close friend with a telltale grin on his face as he happily replied, "with a bang,"

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it~ Let me know what you think!

Again, thanks for bringing the weird text issue to my attention Mr. Guest Poster~

Till Next Time!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Happy July All! Sorry for disappearing again. I wasn't really sure what direction I wanted this story to tread and I had a bit of a writer's block. But I think I have it all figured out now :)!

Thanks for all the reviews and reads, I really appreciate it!

Enjoy~

* * *

"Nurse…" Lex called out feebly from his hospital bed. His lips were bruised and cut open, as was the rest of his face. The resistance brat had done a number on him and the doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. If only he could clench his fist… he would love to break some things to let out his frustration.

They had come just in time to save Jason before the truth serum even took its complete hold over him. The serum was experimental, but it was supposed to make a person remain awake while losing their controlled consciousness so that they act and think according to their hearts desires. His intentions were not focused on getting Jason to tell him the deep down secrets of the resistance. He could care less about a puny army. Instead, he simply used him as an experimental patient, the perfect scapegoat, no one would think twice about Jason dying in an incident. He only had one chance once he got the serum to work, so he needed to make sure it was working correctly. But all that flew out the window the moment the meddlesome resistance members came along and took his lab rat and scientist away.

He grunted at the thought of the scientist being kidnapped. He hoped the insolent man kept his mouth shut about the experiment and that hopefully the resistance members had killed him off before he could say anything.

"Nurse!" He tried to yell once again, but his attempt was proven a failure as he coughed involuntarily at the sharp pain he felt in his ribs. He silently cursed in between ragged breaths, the dark haired young man had gone completely berserk on him and cracked the majority of his ribs, broke his leg and bashed his face in to the point he was unrecognizable if it weren't for his signature bald head.

Where the hell was this stupid nurse? Lex shook his head as he confirmed with himself that he was simply and unavoidably surrounded by incompetent people who did not know how to do their jobs.

He struggled as he reached over the railing with his left arm and tried to catch the lever that swung near the edge of the bed. The lever was there so patients could call the nurse over whenever they needed assistance, but there was obviously a flaw in the design as he struggled to catch it. Why was it swinging in the first place? Lex froze and realized that there was a cold breeze in the room, had that been there before? He looked over to the right and saw that the windows were shut. He looked up this time and found no ventilation systems that could possibly produce this breeze. It was when he looked over at the door on the other side of the windows that he realized where the wind was coming from.

Leaning on the side of the doorway was the closest being he had to a son. The dark haired teenager smirked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and straightened up to his full height. For someone who was biologically 14 years old, he stood at an impressive 6' height and was muscular and well-built. Most people who saw him scoffed at his features, stating that he must be using the enhancements that Dorrance and his porters utilize. But Lex would just laugh at these remarks; no one knew the secret except for him, not even Kal – who was the true 'father' of Connor.

Lex attempted to smile as the boy walked up to his bed. If he was being truthful, he had no love for the boy. He was an experiment, but one that had proven successful. When his gazed upon the boy he felt no paternal love or feelings for him in the family sense. Rather he was filled with pride and joy from the fruits of his labor. Under his wing, he had a superior being of his own. A minion, a weapon-a clone.

"It was fun watching you struggle, so I couldn't help myself," Connor sheepishly laughed as he pulled the seat out next the bed with much ease, "Who knew that my breath would reach that far?"

"Don't use those powers in the open," Luthor muttered as he tried to relax into the pillows but finding whatever position he moved into was still met with discomfort as his body groaned in protest.

"It was a joke," Connor waved off his guardians warning with an annoyed tone, "You look like crap, how you feel?"

"Delightful," Lex replied in a sarcastic monotone voice leaving a thick layer of tension in the air,

"Well, my trip to Hawaii was awesome, thanks for asking," the boy muttered as he leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed over his broad chest,

"Once again, delightful," Luthor paid little attention to the boy as he began to plot how Connor's being there would help him in his cause. If only he had arrived a few days earlier, he could have easily taken care of the kidnappers.

"Geez. I knew you were always a grump, but this takes it to a whole new level," Connor sneered as a pout formed on his lips. He hated it when Lex was in an even worse mood than his usual demeanor. Lex was his father like figure, ever since he could remember which was only the past year or so. Lex had told him how he suffered from amnesia from having a hard landing on Earth and that Kal was his relative, but did not know of his existence. Of course he always wondered why he could not just let The Supreme know of his existence, but Lex tells him it's for everyone's own good that he remains believing that he is the sole survivor of his home planet. Once the Empire had completely taken over the world, then they could discuss the whole family tree, but for now he had sworn to remain silent and make believe that he was just a normal member of the Empire. He could not wait till he could go public with his powers and his relations with the Supreme. He envied the power and absolute rule Kal had over the world, and knowing that it was all for their home planets sake made his inner fan boy shriek with pride and joy.

"Oh! I just remembered," Connor sat up, pleased to see that he finally had Lex's complete attention, "There was a messenger outside and he asked me to relay this message to you: The Supreme demands that you recover Diana from the Resistance, you have 50 days to complete this mission, otherwise he's taking away your position,"

Lex found it difficult to breath with this new information. 50 days?! It would take him at least a few weeks to recover from this, and on top of that they had no leads on the whereabouts about the Amazon. If Kal took away his title and position that would mean he had absolutely no chance in following through with his ultimate plans. It would mean all this was for nothing, and the past 20 years were a fluke and wasted. It wasn't possible, unless…

"I'm guessing something real bad happened while I was away," Connor shrugged his shoulders; he was not all that concerned. Lex had always pulled through, he was an absolute genius after all, and he would surely find his way. And Connor vowed that he would help him in any way possible, just as the man had helped him recover from his loss of memories and family.

"Connor," Lex just stared straight up at the ceiling, lost in thought as he called the boys name,

"Yeah?"

"Take me to my quarters,"

"What?" Connor raised his eye brows as he tried to determine what kind of medication they had put the older man under, "I can't move you! Look at you!"

"Just do it," Lex grimaced as he used every ounce of the little strength he had left to pull himself up in a sitting position. His sharp green eyes were determined as he knew that he had found his answer, "There's something I need to do,"

* * *

"Kori!" Roy shouted as he banged on his girlfriend's door impatiently, "we're going to be late, and you know Todd hates late,"

"Yes, Yes, I know," she called back as she grabbed her duffle bag which was packed with as much of her clothes as she could fit, "Sorry, I need one more second,"

She fumbled with her shoes as she tied them with nervous fingers. Kori was a young girl, who once held a bright outlook on the world and everything that was happening to it. She tried to stay faithful to her beliefs, and that one day justice would prevail. But she lost sight of it when she lost her beloved brother, Ryan which eventually led to her sister betraying the Resistance and joining the Empire. Her parents had died before she could even remember and her siblings were all she had, but they had eventually left her as well.

"KORI!" her lover yelled as he banged on the door even harder, "why is your door even locked?!"

Good question, she thought to herself but quickly remembered why. She had shut herself in her room as she thought about Grayson and contemplated whether or not she should go talk to him before she left. She knew that she shouldn't, especially considering that she still felt something for him. When she had lost everything, Dick had been there for her as a friend, a lover, and someone who understood her pain and struggles. Naturally over time, the friendship grew into something romantic and she fell in love with him. She felt a sharp pain as her heart ached at the thought of how everything unraveled and Dick had confessed that he could not love her like he loved Barbara. Kori didn't blame him; she was brilliant, determined, beautiful, but most of all-unbroken. Two broken things could not possibly fix one another, and she reasoned with herself that she would be selfish to ask Dick to remain in the same state with her forevermore.

But overtime she realized that she could only reason with herself so much. The feelings had never faded, and it was difficult for her to continue to pretend that they were gone forever. She accepted the fact that she would always have feelings for Dick, but she also realized that she could harbor feelings for more than one person. Jason had noticed what had happened between her and Dick and he came to help pick up the pieces. She knew that at first, his intentions were to make Dick seethe with jealousy, but over time she realized that behind all the anger and hatred he carried, Jason was a kind-hearted person. He truly wanted to help her out as a friend. Roy joined the duo and eventually he and she had gotten closer. She began to understand the comfort that could only be provided by another being, and found herself attracted to Roy. As childish and smug Roy had seemed to be, he was innocent-minded. Another broken soul that had found its way into her life, and one that was insistent on remaining broken. One that would thrive with her own shattered being, and would never leave her unless she was the one who desired to be fixed.

It was at that thought that she made her decision. She would not see Dick. He was most likely preoccupied with taking care of Barbara anyways.

She picked up her duffle bag once more and opened the door to find Roy with an initially annoyed expression which quickly turned into a gentle one as he grinned and took her bag out of her hand.

"Ready?" He asked as he turned to walk down the hall,

"Ready," She answered his question with a brilliant smile as she hooked her arm through his and they began their journey down the long hallway to their next destination.

* * *

Bruce exhaled his fourth sigh in the past five minutes as he reached over with his good arm to rub the knots that had formed in his left shoulder. One would think that a having an arm resting on a sling would mean he could relax it, but he found that the arm just naturally tensed up causing his wound to ache at the movement of muscles. Leslie had told him to just rest up that day, but he refused to lay in bed while there was mayhem and so many things left unfinished.

He had spent the day talking to people, trying to see what he could do to help organize the chaos a bit. Rumors were spread here and there that there were traitors in the Resistance and that they should start packing and moving before they were found by the Empire. Bruce would usually remain calm and try to dispel any unwarranted gossip, but he remembered the letter he had received in the cafeteria from Dick. The letter was originally from his ally Arthur who led the roaming naval forces which were primarily based in the North Atlantic. Arthur had sent word that the Empire was assembling troops in the pre-European regions and getting ready to send them to the Capital of the Empire, where Bruce's forces mainly occupied. This was a possible indication of a battle that was to come. Bruce knew that they would have to relocate as soon as possible but he also know morale amongst his commanding officers was low, especially considering what happened to Jason and Barbara. He realized that this talk with Diana about an alliance had to happen soon, she was steadily becoming his only chance at saving his people.

He looked at his watch as he turned the final corner to the hallway that led to his room and saw that it was only a couple of minutes before 7:00. He wanted to get a shower in before grabbing dinner with Diana, but he realized that he won't have the time to. Hopefully she did not mind the scent of coal and embers on him. He was just returning from the engineering headquarters and had to discuss some matters regarding the power grid with Beatriz. The Brazilian specialized as a pyro technician and decided it would be 'cool' to take him on a tour through their new energy chambers, where they burned coal and recently found a way to recycle it.

He looked up from his watch as he neared his chambers when he found a familiar figure standing by his door. He ground his teeth as he realized that there had been one person he forgot to see that day, but she had found her way to him instead.

"Selina," Bruce greeted in a serious tone, trying to convey that he did not want to play games with her at that moment, or perhaps ever.

"That miserable bastard," she muttered as she eyed Bruce's arm with a displeased look on her face, "we should have just left him,"

This earned her a deadly glare from Bruce, one which she wasn't sure if it scared her or tantalized her. Bruce was a mystery to her, one that she knew all too well. Although he never delved too much into his past, she knew that a great number of scars had marked his heart. Ever since the first time she met him 10 years ago, she could not help but feel a somewhat animalistic attraction to the man and she knew the feeling was mutual. But Bruce had too much pride, morals and willpower. He would never give in to their game of cat and mouse. They had a few things here and there, but he had always cut it short saying that he had no time and that her time was better spent elsewhere. She hated hearing him say such things. He portrayed himself as an undeserving man, which ironically made him far more deserving than any many she had ever come across. There was no other man for Selina, Bruce was the only one who had piqued her interest, he was the only one who could make her _feel_ something other than disappointment and hatred for what the world has to offer her.

"I know you went to the surface with Ollie," he muttered as he stopped walking a few feet in front of her, "I'll let it pass just this once,"

Selina raised an eyebrow at this, "The big bad sheriff isn't going to punish us?"

Bruce just shot her another look, obviously trying to convey that he was not in the mood. Selina returned a soft smile. It saddened her at times when she realized that Bruce would always have his guard around her. She saw the way he laughed and poked fun at his mentees at times, but she would never see that side of him directed towards her. He never took her seriously, but instead he took the things that she did far too seriously. She realized that, that was why she kept going against his word and back and kept doing the troublesome things she did. It was how she got his attention. Like a cat, she was always lurking in the back… waiting to cause a scene when the perfect moment rose.

"I have something important that I think you'd like to take a look at," Selina took a step closer to him with her hands behind her back as if she was holding something behind her. Bruce's eyes darkened as he tried to calculate her moves and try to read her thoughts and motives.

"What does it involve?" He asked warily, exhausted and not wanting to play her games,

"Ever the detective," she murmured as she took another step towards him so that they were less than a foot apart, "I think it's cute when you try to play Sherlock Holmes,"

"Selina, I don't have time for this right now," Bruce muttered as he took a step to the side to avoid her advances, but she also took a step to the side so that he was backed up against the wall.

"I did what I do best, and _borrowed_ something from that lab," she licked her lips as her eyes sought after his lips,

"What did you steal?" Bruce's voice was curious, and Selina knew that she had his full attention now,

"I won't tell," she teased

"You're wasting my-"

"I'll show you though," she slightly nodded her head towards his good arm, motioning for him to stick it out in front of him.

Bruce looked down at his hand, completely perplexed by what this woman was plotting. He would usually entertain Selina's approaches, just so he didn't come off as uncaring and cold-hearted, but he would usually cut it short when he realized that she was trying to get intimate with him. This time though, he felt as though she was being serious and actually had something to give her. He reluctantly raised his open palm between the two of them, making sure to extend it a little further so they would have as much space between them as possible.

Selina noticed a silhouette approach the two of them in her peripheral vision. She didn't bother to turn her head to acknowledge or confirm whoever it was, knowing exactly who it was. This was her chance, the perfect opportunity to cause some trouble. To be the black cat, which caused chaos wherever it went just to let it be known that she exists, and isn't just a shadow to be simply ignored. She smiled as she knew that this was what she did best.

Reaching between the two of them, Selina grabbed Bruce's hand with her empty ones and shoved it against his chest as she rammed her body into his, causing him to grunt in both surprise and pain. She felt his body freeze up as her lips crushed his in a heated collision. Her eyes were shut closed as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss with little success.

Bruce refused her advances as he kept his lips shut tight and shoved her off of him in a frustrated manner. He was sick and tired of her advances and he needed to make it clear that there was nothing between them. He would apologize for ever leading her on, but her actions were unwarranted and had forced him to reject her over and over again. Something he wished he did not have to do.

"Enough," Bruce's voice was gruff as he felt anger and impatience dwell not too far from the surface, "it ends here,"

Selina licked her bottom lip and grinned. This was just the beginning. She relaxed her body as she placed a hand on her hip and turned her head to where the observer stood. Bruce's eyes followed hers as they found their way to bystander.

"Oh sorry, how lewd of us," Selina mocked as her grin widened with mischief, "didn't notice you there,"

"No, I should apologize," Diana replied with a blank expression on her face, "it was rude of me to interrupt,"

Bruce's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. This was all Selina's doing. She had done this all on purpose, and now he was left to pick up the mess-as always. He looked down at the woman who caused so much trouble in his life and gave her a disappointed look before turning just in time to see Diana steer around the corner and away from sight.

"Perhaps that was the first time she saw a man and a woman together," Selina chuckled, "she is after all from an island full of women, I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a –"

"-We'll talk later," Bruce cut her off in a stern voice as he walked past her without a second glance and chased after Diana. She remained alone in the hall for a few minutes in complete silence.

"What's gotten into you?" she sighed to herself as she lightly tapped her temple with the inside of her knuckle. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a rock that radiated an alluring green light.

"Why don't you ever do the right thing?" She asked herself as she felt an unfamiliar sting in the back of her eyes. It had been well over a decade since she last cried and it was strange sensation, but one that wasn't completely unwelcome by her. She tightly grasped the small piece of mineral close to her chest as her body echoed with the growing pain she felt in her heart.

* * *

A/N: Just getting it out there, I'm sure it's evident in my writing but I'm not a huge fan of Selina. She gives me the creeps, but she's not too bad. Thus why I gave her a little angst at the end. And there was tons of references to different characters in today's chapter! YAY Let me know what you think of their portrayals

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think with a review~

Thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to update soon(-er) :)!  
Till then, Toodles~


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Back to the back-to-back updates!  
Originally I wanted to do something different with this chapter, but I figured some Bruce/Diana dialogue was long overdue :)!  
This chapter is more like filler, but it's a cute one. I PROMISE!

Thanks for all the reviews, it's great to know that I'm not the only one that dislikes Selina!  
Enjoy~

* * *

Even though his footsteps were quick and light and most people would not even notice his presence, she knew that he was following her. But even with that knowledge, she refused to slow down as she continued to stride through the hallway with absolutely no idea where she was going. The whole base was an underground maze, but there was always somewhere to go. It had been a good five minutes since she fled the scene she had walked in on, and yet Bruce was still following her. She slowed her pace as she realized that she was overreacting and being childish about something which should have no effect or relation to her whatsoever. Why was she so riled up? Why had she left, when she could have just walked into her room? Why was her heart beating so fast? She instantly began to regret causing such a scene; she would have to apologize to Bruce. But how? She felt as though she could not rile up the courage to even confront him about the issue. Where had her usual cool demeanor gone? She bowed her head and stared at the beat-up uniform Bruce had given her to disguise herself in. She needed to collect her thoughts and reorganize whatever was going on in her head.

She stopped walking and gave Bruce enough time to catch up to her. He walked a little past her and turned so that he was facing her now. He reached out his hand to place it on her shoulder, but stopped himself half way. Why had he chased her? He blinked hard as he realized that this whole ordeal was wildly inappropriate for someone like himself, but there was something about her reaction that made his usual stoic approach to everything fade and be replaced by a more caring and understanding one. He cleared his throat, trying to let his presence be known in case she didn't realize he was there-which she probably did.

"I'm sorry," Bruce started, the words sounding rustic and awkward. He rarely apologized, but he found that he wanted to apologize over and over again to this woman in front of him, "-for before,"

"There's no need to apologize," she replied in a light voice as she looked up and into his steel blue orbs, "You didn't do anything wrong,"

Bruce leaned his body uncomfortably to the right, this whole situation was out of his area of expertise. Truthfully, he did nothing wrong, but he felt like he did. That he had wronged her in so many ways in that one split second of contact he and Selina shared.

"She's a handful," He tried to explain to both her and himself, "I try not to play her games, but-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me," She cut him off softly. For some reason this irked him, and made him feel the need to explain his and Selina's relationship to her even more. He needed her to know that there was nothing between him and the femme fatale, and there never will be. But it wouldn't be wise of them. That would just be his open confirmation that there was in fact some weird spell that hung between the two leaders; something which was completely restricted and should never be touched upon. Even though they were planning on becoming allies, they were different people with different goals and responsibilities.

"You're right," he admitted, giving up on trying to reason with himself.

Diana kept watching him, even when he turned his head to look to the side in what seemed like slight defeat. She remembered the man that she had met at the Purge and instinctively knew that the person he was then, and the one he was now were vastly different. And she also knew that it had nothing to do with Barbara or Jason's recent incidents. This was who he truly was. The man who bore everything on his own two shoulders and refused to let anyone help him carry his burden. She found that trait admirable, but she also found that it made her want to embrace him till the moment he finally broke down and let all of his sorrows out. She wanted to be there for him, to be the one to help him piece back together his broken heart, and never have to face a tragedy ever again. But he would never let someone do that for him, let alone someone who was allied with his enemy.

She appreciated the fact that he had tried to apologize to her, but she knew that it was uncalled for. She didn't deserve the apology and she knew how prideful of a person he was, so the gesture itself was enough for her. Her eyes widened as she noticed the growing spot of blood that had pierced itself through the bandages on his arm. She instinctively reached out and gently grabbed his arm, causing him to flinch at the action. He looked at his arm first and then up at her with a look of surprise etched across his face. He was more surprised at her reaction to the blood, rather than the blood itself. One of his eyebrows rose in anticipation and confusion as she just froze there and didn't say anything with a pained look in her azure depths.

"I'll have to get this bandaged up again," he spoke slowly, hoping that she would be able to process it at whatever slow gear she was in at the moment. In response she quickly withdrew her hand as though his arm had burnt her.

"Sorry," she wrapped her other hand around the hand that was on his arm before and pulled it closer to her chest, "I-I spaced out there,"

Bruce looked at her worriedly; did she remember something bad just now? Her face was a little more sullen than it had been before and her eyes darker, tainted with some resemblance to his own.

"You okay?" he asked trying to be nonchalant as he poked around at his bleeding arm,

"Yeah, no I'm fine," she whispered as her gaze roamed the ground, looking for something beyond the concrete flooring. Bruce didn't believe one bit of it. There was something wrong, and it was triggered by his blood or his wound.

"Would you like to accompany me to the infirmary? We can discuss what we were going to discuss over dinner," he felt obnoxious about having to bring up the awkward moment they had endured a few minutes ago regarding Selina. But they had business to attend to and that always came first.

"Of course," her voice felt distant and Bruce glanced at her as they walked side by side, "How's your arm?"

"Bleeding," he replied shortly, happy that he had pulled a giggle out of her, even though it was a short-lived one.

It took them four minutes to get to the infirmary, four agonizingly quiet and awkward minutes. Bruce was usually the one that remained quiet in a conversation, and so It felt strange to him that he was the one who felt like he had to break the silence constantly throughout their walk. He wanted to grab her shoulders and force her to look into his eyes as he asked her what was wrong. But that would be out-of-character and he was not sure how she would react to it.

They finally reached the door of the infirmary and he knocked three times, but there was no reply. He knocked once more, but his attempt was met with silence. They looked at each other and Diana shrugged slightly, it didn't seem like Leslie was in at the moment. Bruce looked at his watch and read the time; 7:44. She was either out on duty or eating dinner. He glanced down at his bleeding arm and decided that as much as he would like to subside having to fix it up, it needed to be treated. He decided that he would do it himself.

He typed in the pin code for the door and the heavy door slide open. He moved to the side so that Diana could walk in first. She felt for the light switch in the pitch black room while Bruce chuckled quietly on the side.

"The lights are automatic. It takes a few minutes for them to turn on," he walked into the room confidently. He knew where to go for the bandages and antibiotics. On his route to the supplies, he felt a whoosh of air brush his left side and his body reacted on complete autopilot. He reached out with his injured left arm and attempted to wrap it around Diana's waist as she tripped over some boxes on the floor. He grunted in pain as lightning travelled up his arm, unable to support any weight. He felt the stitches tear apart as his arm stretched and flex beyond what they were capable of doing at that moment. He realized what was about to happen next and reached over with his right arm to cover the back of her head to help soften the impact.

A large thud was heard from the dark infirmary and a groan of undeniable pain as Bruce gritted his teeth. His eyes were shut tightly as he tried to ward off the almost unbearable pain he felt pulse through his left arm. He knew from the trickles of blood that his wound was opened once again, and probably bigger and worse than it was before. On another note, his other arm was throbbing a bit, but it was doing much better as it was covered in Diana's soft, lush hair. His senses going back and forth between pain and comfort as he took in her unique lavender scent. He could barely register what was happening since it was still pitch black in the room.

"Bruce?" She whispered with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment laced her voice,

"Diana," he called back as he tried to move his left hand from under her slender body, but found even that a hard task to do. He was thankful that he did not land on her, but rather to the right side of her with his left hand spread across the small of her back and his right cupping the back of her head.

"What happened?" She was having difficulty registering what had happened. She remembered panicking a bit as she felt the ground slip away from her feet. But how did Bruce get mixed up in her fall? Why had he done that? She was cradled in his arms, he had tried to save and protect her. She gasped as she realized that he was probably in excruciating pain.

"Oh gods!" She yelped as she quickly got up and out of his arms, "I'm so sorry,"

He was about to tell her that it wasn't her fault when the pain crept back into his arm and he automatically hissed. Diana looked around frantically, cursing the stupid light system for being so difficult and causing all of this. Bruce let out a deep breath as he gathered his strength to pull himself up into a sitting position.

The lights quickly flickered on, revealing the room which had been the center stage of possibly the most embarrassing moment of Diana's entire life. She looked over towards Bruce's feet and identified the culprit. There were a few boxes filled with textbooks and magazines scattered around the floor in an organized fashion. She cursed at herself, she was never this clumsy. She looked over at Bruce, ready to apologize to him but couldn't find the voice to as she saw his arm coated in fresh blood.

He clutched his arm tightly, trying to prevent it from bleeding anymore. Bruce looked up at Diana and wanted to comfort her by explaining that it looked much worse than it actually was, but was finding it hard to form the actually words on his lips. He felt light-headed and nauseous and the room began to spin little by little. He mentally knocked himself on the head as he counted how many days it had been since he last slept, and realized that it had been far too many. His loss of blood and lack of sleep was doing him a number at that very moment. He should've listened to Leslie for once and taken the day off. If he had, then he probably wouldn't have had to have had that utterly uncomfortable encounter with Selina and Diana. He laughed on the inside as he shook his head and told himself that this was a lesson well learned.

He heard her call out his name over and over again with a worried expression marring her beautiful face. He smiled to himself as he realized and accepted that he wanted to do everything in his own power to prevent her from ever having to make that expression again. Her voice became fuzzy and her face a blur as he realized that it was time for him to finally catch up on his sleep. It was a strange sensation that he felt so at peace in her presence. He could have fought off the allure of sleep and exhaustion, but instead he just let it take over. Was it selfish of him that he just wanted to rest a bit, even if that meant leaving her in a frantic state? He would have to return to that question after his slumber.

* * *

"Geez, I've never seen Bruce like this," Tim admitted as he loomed over his mentor's resting body, "actually now that I think about it, I've never seen him sleep in general,"

His comment earned him a laugh from Leslie and Stephanie. It's true; it was rare to see the notorious Master Commander of the Resistance in such a peaceful state. Leslie always felt a pang of guilt whenever she saw Bruce. He was too talented and young to be caught up in this war, let alone to be their leader. If she was capable, she would have taken his position and dismissed him from all the pain and suffering he had to endure by himself. But as she got to know him better, she understood and accepted that this was not the only war Bruce was fighting, he was fighting something far greater and more powerful than the Supreme. He was fighting the past. A battle which he would never win, but being as stubborn as he was-would continue to fight. Watching him strive so relentlessly to attain salvation and justice had given her hope. Perhaps this war would not end in her life time, but with someone as prolific as Bruce as their leader, the resistance would surely find its way to victory.

"Don't you worry," the doctor directed towards the Amazon who was standing across the room by herself gazing out the hallway window, "He just needed some rest,"

Diana just looked down at the floor, ashamed of what she had caused but also refusing to leave Bruce's side till he woke up. This had happened primarily because of her. If she had just been more careful with Jason, then Lex would not have even had custody over him. And if that was the case, then they would have just confronted her and the scientist wouldn't have been in the mix of it all. Which would have led to Bruce not being shot and any of the events that followed. She was to blame, and she needed to apologize to him as soon as she could. She needed to let him know that she was sorry and that she would make up for everything.

Leslie sighed as she realized that it was hopeless to try to reassure the Amazon. She was wallowing in guilt and the only person that could comfort her was the equally stubborn man that lay on the medical bed. There was a slight cliché in what she saw between the two of them. A spark that the both of them refused to ignite, but one that intrigued them and made them desire to know more. Here were two lonely people who accepted at some point during their lives that they would remain alone forever, but then they both came across a person who made them want to fight their undesirable fates.

Leslie smiled as she teased herself for reciting a Romeo &amp; Juliet story. Even in this apocalyptic world she remained ever the romantic. Her smile turned into a frown as she realized that she had left Alfred in the middle of their dinner date to come tend to Bruce. She was constantly busy as the head doctor and so it was rare for her find time to dine anywhere else besides her office. She would have to apologize to Alfred for leaving and make it up to him.

"Tim, we should make our rounds soon," Stephanie reminded him as she gently patted Bruce's leg before walking over to where Tim stood by the head of the bed, "Dick asked that we cover for him for another few days,"

"Oh yeah," Tim acknowledged as took one last look at Bruce before turning to Diana, "don't beat yourself over it Di, it's not your fault,"

"Thanks Tim," Diana appreciated that he was trying to comfort her, but it had done little to subside the guilt she felt. The teenager and she had gotten pretty close since her arrival. He was in charge of being her ward, and his carefree and innocent personality was refreshing. He reminded her of her sister Donna in that aspect. She too was very naïve and outspoken.

Tim flashed her a boyish smile before waving to Leslie and walking out to do his rounds with Stephanie. Diana smiled as she watched the two playfully banter as they strolled down the hallway. Tim had told her about this girl that he liked, and was seeking out some advice on how to approach her about it. But Diana had told him she had no experience with relationships and such feelings so her advice wasn't even credible. She figured that Stephanie was the girl he was talking about.

"You should get some rest," Leslie suggested as she began to organize some files at her table,

Diana didn't budge from her spot as her smile faded once she was reminded of the present and what had happened today.

"He's not going anywhere," Leslie joked as she shook her head, "even if we wanted him to, he wouldn't dare move. Stubborn boy,"

Her comment received a grin from Diana. Even though she had only known the man for a few days, she knew what the doctor said to be true. He was possibly the most stubborn person she had ever encountered, but that was his charm as well.

"If you'd like, I could arrange it so you can spend the night here," she offered looking at Diana to analyze her reaction to the suggestion. Leslie wanted to burst out into laughter as she saw Diana's face simmer into a deep tone of red.

"I shouldn't," the Amazon vigorously shook her head in denial. Sleeping here with Bruce in the room would be unthinkable. It wasn't that she was prude, but rather she just felt that was a line she should not cross. Both as an Amazon and the Empress.

"There's nothing wrong with it. You could take the furthest bed if you'd like," Leslie laughed at the innocence the seemingly younger woman radiated, "I'll need someone to hold him down when he tries to leave in the morning. These arms are nothing but hangers for my sleeves, couldn't hold down a key on a keyboard even if I tried,"

Diana bit her lower lip as she began to consider what course of action she should take. Ultimately she wanted to be there for Bruce when he woke up so she could apologize to him. Perhaps staying the night made the most sense. If she began to feel uncomfortable then she could just leave and come back in the morning.

"Seems like you've made up your mind. Take your pick," Leslie motioned with her hand to the other beds in the room. Diana nodded her head as she picked the furthest one from where Bruce lay.

"Thank you," Diana was genuinely grateful towards the woman. Not only was she being generous and hospitable, but she also comforted her.

"Thank _you_," the elderly woman reflected back at Diana. She truly was thankful for Diana's presence. It seemed as though there was finally a silver lining for Bruce, and it came neatly packed in this fine young woman in front of her, "I'm headed off to my quarters. If you need anything feel free to call me through the com-link by Bruce's bed. Try to get some sleep sweetie,"

"I will. Have a good night," Diana gave her a gentle smile as she watched her leave the infirmary. After a few seconds she felt awkward and didn't know what to do. She decided that she would just try to get some sleep as the doctor had suggested. She walked over to Bruce's side to check and see if he was sleeping peacefully before she headed to bed. His usual stoic expression was gone, and instead it was replaced with a peaceful one. There were dark circles under his deep set eyes from his lack of rest and his lips seemed a lip chapped. Diana shook her head as she felt the strange feelings from earlier begin to bubble up to the surface. His lips had reminded her of how he and Selina had shared a kiss in the hallway earlier, and she felt peeved by it. She saw how the other woman had taken notice of her before she assaulted Bruce, but none of that should have bothered her. It wasn't as though she had something stolen from her, but she felt so wronged and upset at what had happened.

His lips were slightly parted as the breath of his deep slumber slipped in and out of his mouth. Bruce's defined jaw remained set in its edges as if his features were carved out of marble. Without realizing what she was doing, Diana reached out with her hand and gently traced the sharp curves of his cheek with the back of her fingers. She was strangely relieved to find that he was warm and his skin surprisingly soft for the sharp smooth features it presented. She froze midway in her caress when he slightly turned his head into her touch. His eyes were still closed and chest still heaving rhythmically from his slumber, unlike Diana whose heart was pounding like a jackhammer.

She quickly but gently retracted her hand from its exploration and sighed, relieved that he didn't wake up to another awkward encounter. She took a deep breath and decided it was time for her to sleep before she did anything stupid again.

* * *

A/N:  
I'm not trying to rush into anything with these two. Wanted to make their relationship develop over a span of time, but I also want them to have this shared connection. It's running along the lines of soul mates I guess.

Leave me a review with your thoughts and ideas!

Next Chapter: The Alliance, The Outlaws &amp; THE DRAMA!  
Till Next Time!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for the delay! It was quite the busy weekend. Couldn't wait to upload this chapter!

It's a bit more jam packed and descriptive compared to some of my previous chapters.  
This is by far the longest chapter I've written. EVER. So you're in for a treat~

Thanks for all the love &amp; reviews~  
Enjoy!

* * *

Bruce felt the winding and unwinding of the coils in his head as his heartbeat ascended to a rapid pace. His world was pitch black once more. The light, neither hidden nor out of sight because it simply did not exist in this realm. He had been here before, in another dream-or perhaps _dreams_. He lost count of how many times this nightmare replayed itself over and over and over again. He could only say that it happened at least 20 times; once a year for every single one of the 20 years since the tragic origin of reoccurring nightmare itself.

There laid a pool of blood. There laid a cold corpse of his father. There laid a cold corpse of his mother. There laid a broken child. And in the shadows of it all, laid a promise to protect everybody he loved and cared for.

"Bruce!" he heard his name echo the midst of the dark corridors of his dream. It was a faint voice, but one that sang with clarity. He found himself yearning to hear it again, seeking the warmth it had enveloped around him, even if it were for only a second. The voice had helped him diminish the possessive cuffs the darkness had embodied around him.

After waiting a few moments and realizing that the voice would not call to him again, he tried to seek it out with his own voice. Only to realize that he did not know who to call upon. They knew his name, but he knew nothing of them except the sound of their voice. Once again, Bruce began to feel lost and hopeless. Perhaps even more than before since he had just witnessed a glimpse of hope and warmth, but came to realize and accept that it was nothing more than just that-a glimpse.

"Bruce!" he heard the voice once more and this time he clawed at the emptiness, knowing that there was more. Knowing that someone would be looking for him for as long as he continues to search for that glimpse of hope once again. He was determined more than ever to leave the darkness. He had lived 20 years too many, trying to become a part of it, to divulge it of its secrets and its meaning. There was another way to defeat it, and that was this voice. This voice would help him find his way. He found that his burden did not feel any lighter, but instead it felt more bearable.

* * *

Diana struggled as she considered slapping him in the face to wake up him, but decided that might be a bad idea. She found it strange that such a warrior as himself would not wake up to the deafening siren that had been ringing for the past seven minutes. If he was out on the battle fields of Themyscira, he would not even make it past one morning. She had to remind herself that this was a serious matter and she should not laugh at the thought of it, regardless of how petty it was.

"Bruceeeee!" she tried to coax him into waking, realizing that all she could really do is hope to wake him by continually calling his name. She was not even sure what the alarm was about. There was just a load siren that rang throughout the halls and most likely the entire camp. There could have been multiple reasons for it, but regardless of the reason she knew that their leader should be awake and in action for it.

She pouted as she looked at the handsome young man lying in the bed in front of her. This was definitely not what she signed up for when she said she would like to just come and make an offer for an alliance. She still felt guilty about the whole matter, but she did not think that being someone's alarm clock would be a part of the pact. She wondered that if she slapped him, would that be some sort of treason? Would they look at that as though it was a violation of the pact that they haven't even created? The fact that she was even worrying about it, made her decide it was better not to even attempt it.

She turned her head and glanced at the door hoping that the elderly doctor would run in and slap him awake for her. But apparently she would not find herself that lucky today. She began to worry as the alarm continued to ring. Surely it wasn't the Empire's forces attacking? There was no way that she was traced back here, she made sure to get rid of any evidence and that they took the safe route out when they brought her here. She turned back to Bruce and gasped when she found his eyes half-lidded, open and staring at her. How long had he been awake for?

"Could you pass me the com-link?" he motioned his head towards the com-link on the other side of the bed, the side he had trouble reaching due to his arm. His voice was husky and deep from the short hours of rest he had managed to get. His head still foggy from the nightmare he just woke from.

Diana just nodded and decided that she would do whatever he says first and then ask him any questions she had later. She quickly walked over to the other side and grabbed the com-link for him and was about to put it by his ear when he grabbed it out of her hand with his good arm and gave her a quiet thank you. Diana froze as she realized that she had tried to do something unnecessary by trying to cater to him. She had done it so subconsciously she did not even think about whether or not he needed it. It was a strange feeling for her, and she was glad that Bruce seemed to not have noticed.

"Tim, what's going on?" Bruce asked in a gruff voice as he reached up with his right arm to put in the com-link then cover his other ear to filter out the sound of the siren.

Diana waited patiently as she looked around and saw people running up and down the hall in frenzy. This was most definitely not a fire drill. Even though she had no idea what was going on besides that it was not a practice drill, she felt calm and at peace. At least as long as Bruce was calm and peaceful about the whole situation. The fact that he was not in a hectic mood, made her believe that everything would turn out okay and that it was truly nothing to worry about.

"Where?!" Bruce jolted up from his laid back position causing his sore muscles and joints to ache, but he heeded no attention to them as the news that had just traveled to him had beckoned for his attention.

Diana instantly felt a state of panic begin to rise within her. Her heartbeat began to rise as she watched Bruce attempt to quickly climb of bed in an awkward fashion. His arm had been completely casted this time and his usual mobility nowhere to be seen or felt. She ran over to the other side of the bed once more and reached out to help him crawl out of the bed.

"No," His voice was stern as he replied to Tim over the com, "no…"

Diana noticed how his voice changed drastically the second time he said the word. It was much softer as though he was holding back and initially did not want to say the word, but his body had forced it out of him. She watched as his eyes narrowed and a film of water eclipsed his usually clear eyes with a new sheen. The almighty Empress suddenly had the urge to kneel down in front of this man and cover his eyes with her two hands as if that would make his sorrow disappear. As if the tears that were on the verge of spilling all over this prideful man's heart were something sacred and should not be spilt.

Diana didn't hear anything, but knew that the conversation was over when Bruce waved his right hand by his ear to turn off the com-link. He just remained as still as a statue, leaning on the bed so he was half on and half off with his eyes closed.

Diana just stood in front of him with her arms heavily hanging by her sides, beckoning her to embrace the man and comfort him for gods know what. She just knew that he was hurting right at that moment and she wanted to do everything she could to help him escape his never-ending trials. It seemed as though even Sisyphus belonged under the shadow of this man, the legend sincerely eclipsed by this human's immortal trials.

"Could you help me get to my quarters?" Bruce muttered in a quiet voice. Diana nodded in reply, realizing that he couldn't see her but knew that she had said yes. She gently grabbed his arm and helped him get on his feet. It was only then she realized the true mass of his physique. Diana herself stood at an imposing six feet which put her at a height greater than most males, but Bruce stood even taller than her. His back rippled with muscles he utilized in every movement of his body. His body was the ultimate definition of sinewy, exceptionally lean but with every curve filled with years and years of finesse as he built the muscles there. Diana knew that rather than his body being too weak it was his heart that was faltering and weakening. Even the strongest of materials of this world will eventually scathe when hit over and over again.

"What happened?" Diana asked quietly, realizing that the alarm had stopped ringing some time ago, but she had not even noticed it till now.

"Jason," Bruce whispered afraid that if he said his name too loudly that whatever God there was left in this world would somehow curse his former mentee and hurt him like He did every other person he had come to love and care for.

"Is he okay?" She pulled his good arm around her shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist so he could lean on her easier.

"He escaped with two others," He didn't bother replying whether or not he was okay. He wondered if it was even okay to assume that Jason was ever okay. Had he done wrong by bringing him in and under his wings? Was trying to help Jason actually making things worse? Somehow Bruce couldn't help but accept that Jason leaving was the one outcome that would have come out of their relationship.

He noticed that Diana had stopped asking questions at that point, and he appreciated it greatly. Tim had told him that he used hand-crafted bombs that Bruce had taught him how to make and escaped the glass prison. The explosion would not have been big enough to trigger the entire base alarm. Roy must have triggered it to help conceal the sound of the explosion with the mass of people scrambling so that all the commanding officers would be in a state of confusion and panic. Bruce cursed at himself silently; he should have seen something like this coming. Jason was never one to stay put; he would always put up a fight regardless of what the situation was. He had been in too deep of a sleep to wake up from the first ring of the sirens and he had no one but himself to blame. The thought of sleep brought him to remember the voice that had stirred him in his sleep, the voice that made him feel more hopeful, the one that most likely belonged to the woman besides him.

Bruce glanced to his right and was utterly surprised to find her staring back at him. He quickly averted his eyes and looked to the left instead where he was surprised once more. There was a bed in the furthest corner that had bed left unmade. There were ripples and folds in the sheet that led off the bed, as though someone slid off the bed. He felt an involuntary tug of the corner of his lips as he came to the conclusion that Diana had spent the night in the room watching over him.

"They're more comfortable than the beds in our quarters," he commented with a light tone, finding himself intrigued and entertained by this woman. He felt her pause in her step for a quick second at the realization of what he was referring to.

"They're both more comfortable than the beds at the Empire," she replied with a gentle smile, more than thankful that Bruce seemed to be able to muster up the strength to joke.

"I wouldn't doubt it," he found that he wasn't dizzy or anything and didn't need to lean on her anymore. Not wanting to have to rely on her, he was about to let go of his hold on her shoulder when he felt her tightly grasp at his waist afraid that he was about to topple over if she didn't support him. A light grin placed itself on his lips as he gently rested his hand on her shoulder once more, comforted by the thought that he finally found someone he could lean on.

* * *

"That was fucking awesome," Roy yelled at the top of his lungs as he fist pumped in victory causing Kori to duck afraid she'll get hit by his elbow, "Todd,"

Jason didn't respond to his friend, instead he searched intently around the deep forest for something he had found years ago.

"Todd!" Roy called out again, thinking that his best friend did not hear him, but Jason ignored him once more.

"TODD!" Roy belted, knowing that Jason was ignoring him on purpose, but he wouldn't let it go. No one ignored Roy, at least no one should.

"What?" the other man replied curtly. The forest had changed so much since the last time he was out here; he was having some difficulty finding the shelter.

"Where the _hell_ are you taking us?" Roy raised his arms to emphasize the confusion he felt at that moment, "We've been walking for what? An hour now? And you haven't told us smack about where we're headed,"

"Just shut up and follow me," Jason continued to walk as he searched around. They should be nearing the site soon.

"Alright Pocahontas," the red head replied smugly as he looked over at Kori who was in a daze as she took in her surroundings, "And John Smith over here, who has never seen a tree in their entire life,"

"It has been 17 years since I last came out of the underground camps," Kori replied as she shot her boyfriend a sour look at his rude remarks, "I forgot how crisp the air was up here,"

"17 years?!" Roy asked incredulously. It's true, most refugees choose not to come out to the surface afraid that they would encounter the horrors of the Empire and become victims of the next purge. He was just surprised to find that it had been 17 years for Kori, who had been one of the most adventurous and curious girls he came to know.

"17," Kori repeated to emphasis how long it truly has been, "My mother made me promise to never leave the underground,"

"Look at you now, taking big steps!" Roy received a deadly glare from her,

"Just shut up," Jason muttered, more annoyed that he was being so insensitive towards Kori. The poor girl had lost her parents who were executed for being members of a royal family.

"Oh now he talks," Roy shot back,

"If this is how it's going to be the entire time…" Jason felt his anger rise. He was easily annoyed and Roy tended to be easily annoying.

"Stop, do not argue!" Kori tried to stop them from getting riled up but felt some sort of heat inside herself begin to rise.

"Whatever screw you Jason," Roy spat as he stopped walking and crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I said sss-"Kori found that her insides burned in an unbearable degree of pain and felt as though her muscles, bones and every nerve in her body were bubbling up in fiery. She began panting heavily between her screams and cry for help. Her eyes began to frantically roll to the back of her head and her ears filled with the shouts of both Jason and Roy.

* * *

"Tim and Stephanie are handling everything with the escapees," Bruce stated through his com-link to Helena. He refused to use Jason's name and instead grouped the three of them together under a different alias. It was unnecessary for him to use his name anyway; everyone had known it was Jason, Roy and Kori who had escaped. They were always the loose cannons amongst the resistance members and refugees.

"Let me know," Bruce signed off as he turned to find Diana leaning against his desk, gazing at the photograph of his parents that rested flat on the surface. When she looked up and just smiled at him instead of asking him any questions, he was relieved. Even though he knew she was curious, he didn't want to talk about them-at least not at that exact moment.

"This alliance you spoke of," he began as he attempted to pull his grey shirt up and over his head to change out of it. He found that he was having a little difficulty with the bulky cast that engulfed his arm. He considered just tearing it off, but was semi relieved yet embarrassed to find that Diana had walked over to help him take it off. She grabbed end of the shirt and rolled it over so it was easier to get his right arm through first, and then his head. She then gently stretched the shirt a little so that his casted arm would slip out easily.

"Thanks," he grabbed the shirt from her and threw it the corner of room where there laid a few other articles of clothing that had been discarded. He went over to his drawer to select a new top for himself.

Diana found that she had completely forgotten to reply to him, because she was too busy taking shy glances at his chiseled form. She had seen many shirtless men sparring and training during her stay at the Empire, but she had never witnessed a man who held the same prestige and gleam of Bruce's body. Countless scars marred his torso; some old and others new. She confirmed that even Ares himself never fought enough battles in his entire immortal life to match the number of scars this mortal man had. She ached to reach out and trace each scar with her fingers; as though the skin ship would allow her to delve into each and every one of their stories.

"As I was saying," Bruce's voice snapped her back to reality, "I would like to hear your side of it all first,"

"Of course," She replied a bit too quickly as she feared that he might have seen her peeking at his nearly perfect figure. She watched as he pulled a black short-sleeved v-neck through his injured arm, and eventually over his body; creating a curtain over his frame. She cleared her throat before continuing,

"You know of how my people were captured," she said more as a statement than a question, "We had thought that our trials were over, but it turns out that they had only really begun,"

She walked back over to his desk and leaned her back on the wall so she was facing him once again, "Kal did not simply want power over my people. He wanted power over my gods as well-the complete realm,"

Bruce gave her his complete attention, watching her turn her head to the side as she continued with the rest of it, "I did not know of his plans until last year, when he threw a surprise attack at a number of my gods and succeeded in killing Hermes, Demeter, Dionysus and Hephaestus. I did not know about it till a couple of weeks later. I found that I could not communicate with them through my meditations during those weeks and I knew something was wrong…"

She trailed off as she chewed the inside of her cheek trying to keep both her anger and sorrow at bay, "But I could never have imagined how wrong,"

Bruce took a couple of steps towards her subconsciously. He was naturally drawn in by the strength and determination she exerted through her every breath. He wanted to tell her that she should not blame herself for it, he had wasted the past 20 years doing exactly just that and he wouldn't want her to waste a second of her precious life.

"The loss of my gods had taken a toll on my powers. I found that I could no longer fly and heal quickly. I also lost my strength and my speed. This was all upon the doing of the Supreme. He had stripped me of what made me…me," she felt the unwelcomed strain of tears begin to pull on her eyes. She didn't want to seem weak, especially not in front of his man.

"Your gifts did not make you who you were," he clearly stated as he walked up to her now, his eyes ablaze with determination to make her see the truth, "Don't let _him_ hold that kind of power over you, you'll have no option but to lose if you allow yourself to think like that,"

"My gods _created_ me," Diana emphasized, trying to convince both of them now as frustration regarding the whole matter began to surface and infest her voice, "it is through their powers that I exist,"

"But it's not through _their _powers that you'll stay alive," he planted his feet on the ground a couple of feet before her and lowered his head so their eyes were parallel; "you came here. You came to _me_. Because you want to fight for your people, your gods and your life,"

Diana couldn't help but nod her head at his words. His eyes captivated hers and kept her there, where he wanted her. She realized that she was glad she was forming an alliance with this man, otherwise she would be powerless against him.

Bruce's eyes softened slightly as he reached out with his functioning hand and took hold of her smaller one from where it rested by her side. He pulled their joined hands up between them and gave it a gentle squeeze. His eyes never left hers as he did this.

"We'll fight for it all… together. You and I," he then presented her with a brilliant grin that made her heart stop for far too many reasons. She felt the substance filled with so many emotions begin to flood her eyes and leave a crisp trail on her satin skin. The trail quickly evaporated with all the doubts she had before she met this man. He would save her people, her gods and most of all-he would save her.

* * *

"Are you serious?" venom filled the young woman's voice as she felt confused and infuriated all at the same time, "You went behind our backs!"

"Well not really. Going behind our backs would have meant he sent us to an all-out war and THEN told us that he had an alliance with the Empress," Tim stated matter of factly to Selina who was bearing her claws at everyone who was in the conference room.

"Tim, its best we stay out of this," Stephanie grabbed his shoulder and squeezed tightly trying to emphasize her point. She never liked Selina, but she hated her even more when the lady bared all her fangs.

"I'm not some young kid anymore, I deserve to have a say at this table," Tim retaliated, but at all the adults at the table instead of Stephanie who was of a similar age to him.

"The kid's right," Ollie implied jokingly, receiving a hatred tainted glare from the young boy. The man clad in green just shrugged his shoulders. Ollie got his punishment when Dinah roughly pinched him, causing him to squeak in both surprise and pain.

"Bruce, if you think this is a good idea…I'm all for it," Barbara brought back the original topic of conversation, "but I do feel as though it's a bit rushed,"

Her comment received numerous nods throughout the group of people. Bruce's eyes remained focused on the red-head, thinking of how he should approach the upcoming topic of conversation.

"It had to be," Bruce now turned to Dick who stood behind Barbara's wheelchair, "Dick and I received news from Arthur a little more than a week ago. The Empire's forces are moving towards the capital,"

Whispers began to rise throughout the room. Some were angry, some confused, some progressive while most were afraid.

"Originally we assumed this meant that they were coming for us," Bruce noticed how that brought a sigh of relief to many occupants in the room; "They will still come for us, but not first. They are going to target Diana's gods first, and then us,"

"Good riddance," Selina muttered all too loud, bringing unwanted attention to herself. Bruce shot her a warning glare.

"Why her gods?" Stephanie asked curiously. Cassandra released a deep sigh, already seeing where this was going.

"They're pretty much the last line of defense," Barbara interjected, "Her gods are really the only ones who stand a chance against the Supreme,"

"So we need to help save them if we want to even survive," Helena pieced it together as she shook her head, "we're all so pitiful,"

"We're just going to die anyways," a familiar yet surprising voice filled the room, causing everyone to quiet down and look at the origin of the voice itself, "whether in the crossfires of these superior beings, or at the mercy of this fucking alien. We're all just going to end up dead, so what's the point?"

Dick barely had time to look up and defend himself from Bruce as his former mentor grabbed his shirt by the collar and shoved his one good arm into his collar bone as he forcibly pushed him up against the wall. At first, fear filled the young man's eyes as he realized he was helpless against Bruce, but eventually his eyes just glazed over and turned into defeat.

"If you think your life is so goddamn invaluable, then I better see you give it up for those who believe their lives _are_ valuable," Bruce spat through his teeth, fed up with Dick's aloof attitude these past few days. He understood that the younger man was still upset and angry at him for not being able to save Barbara from harm, but there were too many lives at stake for him to live by that one mistake. Bruce peeled his arm off of his collar and turned to face everybody else.

"If you find yourselves disagreeing with my decision then feel free to come up with a better one," he waited to see if anyone raised their hands or spoke their minds, but everyone was too afraid after seeing the spectacle he had displayed with Dick. He just nodded his head at everyone and turned to walk out of the conference room. He would talk to everyone individually over the duration of the next few days to see if they had anything they wanted to say in a more private sphere.

Selina watched with irritation as Bruce walked out of the conference room, leaving the rest of them to discuss what had just happened. She looked over at Dick who remained plastered to the wall, his shoulders slouched in defeat. As much as she hated the whole "family" idea they had planted into this committee of leaders, she liked it better before than now. With Jason gone, Dick depressed and hopeless, Barbara stuck in a wheelchair for God knows how long and Tim going through puberty, things were in complete chaos. And the icing on top was that all of it had to do with this self-dignified Empress that had made a comfortable home for herself where she didn't belong.

"I have a better plan," she purred to no one in particular.

* * *

A/N: Phew, hope you liked it! As I promised there was the alliance, the outlaws and the drama :) And lots of Bruce/Diana moments.  
I made Bruce more sensitive in this story than his usual self. Initially, I was going to make him more brooding and batman-ish but I realized that if I did that, then he might as well dress up as a bat. So for those of you who don't like the sensitive/feeling Bruce in my story, I apologize-I just couldn't find a way to really fit his batman-side into this story :(

As for the reviews, thank you guys so much. You have no idea how inspiring and thrilling it is to see your reviews!  
Thanks to your comments I'm able to steer this story so that I could cater to what you guys want.

IE: I completely forgot to add Donna into this story, but thanks to DaisyJane I found a way to incorporate her into the plot (thank you lots)

SO, on that note... Next Time: DONNA, DINAH, DICK!

R&amp;R!  
P.S any guesses on what's happening to Kori?!  
Let me know what you guys think of the plot, is it going smoothly? let me know if you need me to clear some things up.  
Till next time :)!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hello all!  
Thanks for all the awesome reviews :)! I really do appreciate it!

As I promised, DONNA!  
Unfortunately, I had to cut this chapter short. There was so much going on and I originally wanted to put more into it, but it would have been an overload.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Jesus Jason, HELP ME!" Roy yelled at his friend trying to be heard over the agonizing screams that erupted from Kori's body, "she's burning up! We can't keep walking around like this,"

Jason ground his teeth as he continued to shove branches and leaves aside trying to find the shelter he thought he knew the location of. He knew that Kori was not in a good place right now, but neither were him nor Roy. They were in the wide open, and the Purgers could easily spot them and capture them. Jason blew the curl of white hair that had fallen over his eye out of his line of sight. Something was happening to Kori, just as something was happening to him. After being rescued, his body began to show physical changes. He healed faster and he had more stamina than before, which was great and all-but his hair was slowly turning white. He worried that maybe the increase of stamina and healing meant that his body was aging at a faster pace as well. He never bothered discussing this with anybody else and had planned on keeping it his own little secret.

"Are you even listening?!" Roy belted as he struggled with carrying Kori. She wasn't heavy and Roy wasn't weak, but they had been walking aimlessly for hours now and it was taking a toll on the both of them.

"We can't stop here," Jason replied, his jaw set in stone. He kept walking straight, refusing to look at his friends. They had to keep going or else they would simply be pigs in a slaughter house. As much as he wanted to rest, they had to press forward.

"Kori," Jason could hear Roy whisper his lovers name as he tried to soothe her whimpers of pain away, "c'mon babe, just hang in there, okay?"

Jason started hacking away at whatever stood in his path at a much faster and aggressive rate. He refused to lose another one of his loved ones and he knew Roy would begin to crack and the dam that held up his emotions would break and his friend with it. He narrowed his eyes as he just cleared out the path, frustrated with himself for not being able to find the shelter. He was so sure that it should have been around here somewhere. He grunted as the forest got thicker and his arms began to tire, even with his enhanced stamina. He began to lose hope, that perhaps all of this was a terrible idea from the start.

He should never have left Bruce. Of all the people he had ever come across, Bruce was the one who knew him best. His former mentor had experienced losses worse than his own and still remained victorious when it came to morals. He wasn't ashamed of his beliefs, but he was jealous that someone could retain such sheer willpower. Ever since he was younger he had looked up to Bruce, hoping that one day he could see the world in a better light, that he could sincerely believe that there was hope for this forsaken world. But the loss of Talia had marked the beginning of his endless journey.

He had loved Talia. Her and her father had saved him when he went on a mission at Infinity Island. Although her mind was scattered and broken, he found that he loved that exact thing about her. She was somewhat a reflection of him, and he felt that he could trust her. But she had loved nobody else but Bruce. This wasn't even surprising to Jason when he found out, it was simply frustrating. The man he had felt inferior to for the majority of his life, had won the heart of the only woman he had ever loved. But he understood that this was his punishment. He would have to watch from afar as one unrequited love had led to yet another one.

Even though he would have done anything to save Talia, he also realized that what he had done by rushing to the Empire with no plan, no thought and no humanity had cost him and so many others far too much. Barbara had been shot by a madman while Bruce had been shot by him, himself. He wanted to apologize, to tell him not to blame himself for allowing him to become who he was, because that would be a lie. Jason was always like this; broken, tainted and filled with hatred. Bruce had done nothing wrong except for trying to be too compassionate with the lives of others. If only he could go back, and just find a few seconds to apologize. It would allow hi-

Jason's thoughts were quickly put aside as he heard rustling from the bushes in front of him. He quickly drew his dual pistols, ready to take out some frustrations on the Purgers. The gun weighed down in his hands. One was lighter than the other. The lighter one had been the one he used when he accidently shot Bruce, it was missing a bullet. But that bullet was enough for him to feel the difference. The weight of the deadly metal felt good in his hands-it felt powerful. This is what will bring an end to this war. Not the gun itself, but the intentions of the one who wielded them. He would cleanse this world one bullet at a time.

Jason noticed how Kori's whimpers of pain had disappeared and came to a conclusion that Roy had probably covered her mouth so that she would stop. Hopefully, he wouldn't need his friends help, and this would all go smoothly on their end. Otherwise, all the sacrifices they had to make up until now were pointless and in vein.

Jason slightly turned his head to signal to Roy that he was going to go forward and check it out. He saw his friend nod in his peripherals and started to quietly advance towards the direction of which he had heard the rustling. His eyes darted back and forth as he scanned for any movement. As he lowered himself closer to the ground a little to get ready to get into a defensive position if necessary, his ears picked up another sound. It was a scream, a yell and a cry all put together and it was honing in on him all too quickly from the side. He quickly raised his arms to protect his himself, realizing that he wouldn't be able to aim and shoot in time before he got hit-

* * *

"Master Bruce," Alfred greeted the younger man with a straight face, as Bruce walked around the corner to approach him in the kitchen, "What brings you here?"

"Afternoon Alfred," Bruce dipped his head as he returned the greeting, "I was hoping you could help me whip something up for two,"

"4:24 is hardly the afternoon, Master Bruce," Alfred lowered his gaze and took note of Bruce's injured arm, "Two, sir?"

"Two," Bruce repeated as he eyed a lone apple on the stainless steel table, "I have company,"

"And I assume by 'help' you mean discuss the menu with me and then be on your way," Alfred turned and grabbed a cutting board and knife from the closet that held all the kitchen supplies, "I have an impossibly hard time imagining you attempting to slice anything with that roll of toilet paper on your arm,"

Bruce scrunched his nose as he lifted his arm and examined it. He silently agreed… it did look like a roll of toilet paper. Leslie had made him promise not go too crazy this time. She probably took extra precautions, even though he said he wouldn't bring himself anymore harm. He grabbed the apple before turning towards the door, hoping the older man didn't see his little misdemeanor, but knowing all too well that Alfred already knew.

"Our righteous leader is a thief-who knew?" Alfred mocked with his deadpan humor as he sliced away expertly at some onions. Bruce took a bite out of the apple and flashed his old friend's back a boyish grin before turning the corner and returning to where Diana sat reading over some articles.

She looked up from the documents and greeted him back with a smile as he took his seat opposite of her. Diana watched in awe as he raised the red apple to take another bite out of it-it looked absolutely delicious. Bruce noticed how her eyes twinkled as she watched him with the apple. It took his entire self-control to prevent himself from bursting out and laughing at the childish expression the Amazon was making. Her eyes quickly darkened when he extended his arm and offered her his once bitten apple. He should have offered it to her first before he even took a bite, but he had completely forgotten in the midst of talking to Alfred. Her bright blue gaze quickly darted between him and the apple, as if she was trying to figure out what he was trying to do.

"It's not ripe yet, so it's not as good as It looks," he gave her a reassuring grin, letting her know that the apple was hers for the taking. She froze, unsure as to whether it was appropriate for her to take it from him or not, but she stopped thinking with her head as her stomach started to have a mind of its own. She reached out and grabbed the apple from him. She twirled it around in her fingers as if to look for any bugs that might come crawling out if it. Bruce just laughed on the inside as he watched this strangely innocent woman try to examine a half-eaten apple.

Then it was his turn to freeze as he watched her take a bite out of the bite he had taken. A shudder flew through his body as he watched her lips blanket the surface of the fruit where his lips had been just moments ago. His breath hitched as she bit through the apple and began to chew quietly but eagerly on the piece of fruit. He just watched, looking for any hints as to why she had done that. Did she do it on purpose? He had no idea. He just knew that she had this strange effect on him and he wasn't sure whether he was to welcome it or not.

"It's delicious!" She covered her mouth as she continued to chew on the apple. Bruce realized that she had no idea what she had just done, and only he was overreacting about it. He shared drinks and food with Dick, Tim, Barbara and others all the time-it was never a big deal. But why had he felt like it was? He felt like a little teenager who has yet to have had his first kiss. He shooed the thought away as he gave her a crooked grin and shook his head. This woman was something else.

"If you think that's delicious, wait till you try Alfred cooking," Bruce jabbed his thumb in his friend's direction and whispered, "it's amazing, but you can't tell him that or else it'll get to his head,"

This won him a short giggle from the woman in front of him. Her eyes were blue crescents as she laughed with her eyes as well. He found that he adored it when she laughed like that.

"So we were talking about your sister," he cleared his throat as he decided it was time they talked about business, "you can't get in contact with her?"

"Yes," Diana's smile fell as she remembered about her excommunicated sister and Bruce found that he felt bad about bringing up a subject that seemed sensitive to her, "We used to talk through our meditations or Hermes, but neither are working now,"

"No radios or anything?" Bruce asked as he grabbed a folder from the pile and opened it up just to give his hands something to do,

"No, we didn't want to give Kal any clues," Diana took another bite of the apple and dabbed the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, "She's my insider and I'm worried something's happened to her,"

Bruce just nodded at this, noticing how her eyes lost their bright sheen and slowly fogged up with dark emotions. He understood how she felt to some degree. When he found out that Jason had been taken by the Empire, he could hardly think straight. He just knew that he needed to make sure that he was okay and that he would save him.

"I'll try and see if I can gather up a small Ops team by the end of today," Bruce noticed how her eyes immediately lit up at his offer, "but I can't promise anything,"

"No, you shouldn't. I would just be putting important people at stake. Donna can handle herself just fine, I'm sure of it. I just need to get in contact with her regarding our plans," Diana dropped the finished apple on the napkin besides her and folded her hands on top of each other, "I'll just have to continue to try and contact her,"

"I'll see what I can do," Bruce captured her eyes in his, "okay?"

Diana's eyes softened as she realized and accepted that this man was whole-heartedly the most genuine and noble person she had ever met. She was glad she decided to take a risk by coming here and trying to form an alliance with them. Seeing him had given her hope, that there was still a possibility for justice to reign victorious in this world.

"Master Bruce," Alfred greeted as he walked towards the table with a large tray balanced on one hand with two plates resting in the middle of it. Bruce got up to help his friend unload the dishes and onto the table in front of Diana. Alfred simply nodded his head as he retreated back into the kitchen leaving Bruce to marvel over how entertaining it was to watch this woman drool over food. It was as if she had not eaten for days. He glanced at the pasta and steak which were laid out in front of him and began to feel a pool of drool begin to form in his mouth. Nothing beats Alfred's cooking.

* * *

Selina quickly strode through the halls, her hands constantly tapping her breast pocket to make sure the artifact was still there. This piece of rock had meant nothing to her up until a few minutes ago when she found out what it was capable of. She silently thanked whatever God existed for allowing things to work out smoothly for her. The researcher was still intact, even though he was in a securely guarded cell this time-thanks to Jason's crazy ambitions. She just huffed as she thought of the boy, they had never gotten along. None of Bruce's little minions liked her, probably because of how protective they were of him and saw how intimate he and she had gotten. It somewhat entertained her to see how hard they would try to separate the two of them, when truth be told-they were never together to begin with.

"Whoa!" Ollie raised his hands as he moved out of Selina's way, "Careful, if you don't move out of her way she might scratch you,"

"Shut up Ollie," She hissed at his attempt to joke as she just walked right past him,

"Rude much," She heard Dinah comment, purposely loud enough for her to hear down the hall. Selina could care less about what the couple had to say about her. She knew that Dinah had an old flame for Bruce as well, she just gave up too easily and she was completely fine with that. It would mean less competition for Selina.

Once again, her hand automatically rose to where the rock settled. This was the key to so many things, but most importantly-she had hoped it was the key to winning Bruce over. She saw how he looked at the Amazon, and how that woman stole secret glances at him as well. Selina had always watched from a far like a cat, seeking out the perfect opportunity to pounce at them. She cursed her innate ability to be so perceptive of people, it was like a curse to know what was going on between the two even before they themselves realized it.

She flew passed the cafeteria, smelling something absolutely divine fill up the entire hall. She realized that she was curious as to what dinner would be. She hadn't eaten anything since last night, having to spend the night cleaning up after another mess Jason left behind. She decided that her journey to Bruce's quarters would have to be delayed for a few minutes, as she turned around and headed back towards the kitchen hoping to find something small to eat.

As she entered through the doors, her eyes widened for a quick second before narrowing into slights of fury. Speak of the two love birds, she found Bruce sitting across from Diana as they engaged in some delightful conversation over some food. Selina didn't have to look around to know that they were the only two in the room. Her scowl turned into a sultry grin when she saw Diana look up from Bruce and a look of recognition displaced the smile that once danced on her lips. Selina liked that this woman had automatically senses some bad vibes when she saw her or felt her presence in the room. It gave her power over her.

Bruce had noticed how Diana's mood changed and turned to see who it was that had caused it. His own eyes darkened in recognition as he watched the femme fatale walk steadily walk towards where the two of them sat. He was disappointed that the only hour of normalcy he had been able to capture had been cut short by her appearance. Selina brought anything BUT normal into his life.

"Bruce," his name was slippery as it left her plush red lips, "_Diana_,"

Diana cringed as her name was basically hissed through the other woman's mouth. Diana knew that Selina didn't like her very much, and it had something to do with her being around Bruce. She didn't want to get in the middle of whatever relationship the two of them had, but she also didn't stand for rude and manipulative people.

"Selina, is there something you need?" Diana took note of how Bruce's gentle and laughing eyes from a moment ago had been quickly substituted with cool, calculative ones. She got the feeling that Bruce was not very fond of this woman himself.

"About the other night," Selina's eyes wandered from him to Diana, capturing her blue orbs in her green ones as she made her intentions clear, "we didn't finish our _conversation_,"

Diana saw a muscle in his jaw tick at the last word. She knew that Selina was referring to their kiss; she also knew that she was just trying to get under her skin. But she refused to dance this little dance of whatever it was with this conniving woman. She picked up her tray and got up from her seat,

"Seems as though _our_ conversation needs to be cut short, so that you may finish a previous one," Diana looked at Bruce as she spoke, trying to convey to him that she wasn't mad and that she understood, "I'll be in my quarters, do swing by when you're done here,"

Bruce felt his lips twitch as he felt the urge to grin at the smart little retort Diana was giving Selina, this woman was beyond witty and he was entertained by it. He just nodded as he watched her walk over to the kitchen and thanked Alfred for the meal.

Selina felt her insides tear apart as the anger and frustration began to shred away at the calm, sultry demeanor she had tried to put up. This woman was infuriating and she was going to put up a fight. She shoved the thought aside as she admitted that Diana had won that small battle, but the war was not over yet. Selina turned and sat down on the surface of the table so that she was looking down at Bruce, who continued onwards with his meal.

"Bruce," Selina called his name, waiting for him to give her his full attention. When his intelligent blue eyes peaked out from under his long lashes, she swallowed her saliva and continued with her pursuit.

"I have something valuable, something you'll probably want to see," She started, "-something that can end this entire war,"

Bruce's eyes narrowed as he tried to determine whether or not Selina was just playing games with him again, but something told him she was being dead serious. Her usually playful moss green eyes were bright and awake. Seeing as though Bruce was waiting for her to explain further, Selina did just that,

"I stole something from the lab while we were rescuing Jason," She noticed how his jaw clicked at the word, 'stole', "it was just a rock, but the bald man had treated it as if it was more than just that, so I figured I would take it and see for myself,"

"You have it with you now?" Bruce asked as he pushed his plate away from him so he could rest his elbows on the table,

"Yeah," Selina searched his eyes for something; some hint of being proud of her little deed, but there was nothing. She just sighed as she continued with her explanation "I just came back up from the prisoner, scientist, researcher or whatever the hell he is. He said that this rock was like a sickness for the Supreme,"

"Sickness?" Bruce gave her his full attention now, and this caused Selina's lips to curl into a smile,

"_Sickness_, he said it makes him weak, makes him lose his powers or something," she reached out and took Bruce's cup of water and took a sip from it before continuing, "Why would they have something like that in _their_ lab?"

"It's safer in their hands, rather than their enemies," Bruce was now looking at the wall across the room from him, "Or someone is plotting against the Supreme,"

"Anyways," Selina tried to bring him back from his detective-like thoughts, "This little rock, can end this all,"

"What's the catch?" His question appalled her, made her seem like a schemer. Someone who always had an alternative motive or needed to gain something from whatever it was she was doing. His eyes bore into hers as he waited expectantly for her to say what she wanted to gain out of it. This had upset her greatly, but it was true. There was something that she wanted out of this, and it would always be him.

"Break the alliance," She simply stated as she jumped off the table and turned to caress his back in an embrace from behind, "with this little rock, we won't even need an alliance with those brutes,"

The moment she felt Bruce tense up beneath her, she knew that she had struck a nerve. This was the confirmation that she needed that there was something far more than a simple alliance between the two of them. She felt him shrug her off of his back as he stood and turned to face her. His height never intimidated her until then. He looked down at her as he used his gruff voice to reply to her offer,

"No," he grabbed his tray from the table and was about to walk over to the kitchen to give Alfred his dishes when Selina grabbed at his arm,

"I don't understand. If we are guaranteed to win this war with this key piece… why are you trying so hard to sacrifice your own people for someone you barely know?!" her eyes begged him for an answer as he just froze in place with his tray in his hands. She felt his muscles flex as he tried to control his temper, "She's not even _human_, like us."

Bruce closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as he felt disappointment and frustration flood through his body in response to what she had just said.

"Morals, a sense of humanity and compassion. That's what makes us _human_, all of which she has more of than you," he coolly stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he just walked out of her reach and into the kitchen. Selina felt her heart tumble over and over again in its empty capacity. Things were spiraling out of control, and she was losing her grip on the man she had loved for, for so long. She told herself that this would be the last of it, that this moment would define everything that happens between her and him after today.

Selina stomped up the Bruce who was just leaving the kitchen doors and jabbed her finger into his chest, angrily and desperately. The words felt unnatural leaving her lips, but she needed to know the truth.

"Have you fallen for her?!" she felt tears pool around her eyes and escape onto the canvas of her skin. She hated crying, but she had gotten accustomed to it the past few days. She had found herself doing it way too often. She tried to keep her eyes clear as she searched for answers in his. Bruce was always unreadable, but today she found that he was too readable. She had wished he wasn't, because written in his eyes was the answer to her question. The answer she had wished she would never receive from him; not today, not tomorrow-not ever.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading!

I'll be sure to update soon~  
Be sure to leave a review!  
Let me know what you thought of this update!

Till Next Time...


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Yup. It happened. Back to Back updates. ON THE SAME DAY!  
I wasn't too happy with how the last chapter turned out and so I felt like I needed to redeem myself/this story.

To the Guest who reviewed earlier today:  
"Good story. But I'm not a fan of you crushing Selina and killing talia for Bruce to be with Diana."

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the story and I'm even more glad that you took the time out of your day to leave me a review! I wish you had an account so I could reply back to you so that I could make sure you get this reply. But hopefully this message will find it's way to you. Thanks for pointing this out. I did feel bad in the previous chapters for bashing on Selina so much, but I wanted to add a lot of raw emotions to her character. Just to clarify, I didn't intend to make it seem like if Diana hadn't come along that Bruce would have ended up with Selina. In the first chapter, he tries to push her away knowing that nothing good would come from his and Selina's union. And his relationship with Talia was done and over with by the time this story takes place, it's just Jason who's taking it pretty hard. So basically he had a clean slate when Diana came/comes along and sweeps him off his feet. I hope this clarifies some of it. If you have any other questions or comments please let me know! :D! Thanks again~

Enjoy!

* * *

Bruce lay on his bed, staring at the blank ceiling that encases him in solitude. It was a breath of fresh air for him to be able to be left alone to his own thoughts. His bed had never seemed this comfortable, and he welcomed the calming allure it had on him. He thought about how long it had been since he last slept, but realized it had only been a little less than a day. He was so drained and exhausted from the day's trials that he felt as though he had not slept for weeks. It had initially begun with him fainting from the blood loss and the lack of the sleep, then Jason's escape and onwards to discussing the alliance with both Diana and the leaders, to an enjoyable lunch/dinner with Diana which was suddenly interrupted by Selina and now he found himself in his room. The events had played themselves too quickly for him to really be able to process and assess each one of them.

He closed his eyes as he took a few deep long breaths to help filter out all the negativity and exhaustion from his body and soul. His conversation with Selina had left him feeling confused and frustrated with both her and himself. He didn't give her a clear answer when she asked if he had fallen in love with Diana, even when he knew the answer at that moment. It was simple; he hadn't fallen in love with her – yet. It would have been too premature to say that to Selina, but he knew that if he kept interacting with Diana and got to know her more and more, that he would find himself hopelessly in love with her. He found that the idea of eventually falling for her was frightening, but at the same time it was exciting. The woman's soul had been cut from the same fabric as his own. A fabric that was delicate and so rare that before she came along, he had lost any hope of finding someone like her. More than a lover, he was exhilarated by the idea that she would be a great companion for him in this dark, forsaken world. He did not have to fear being alone anymore, but that also meant that if he ever lost her, he would return to an even dark and more menacing world.

Bruce groaned as he pulled himself to sit up on his bed. The springs creaked under his muscular physique. He couldn't help but feel bad about how things had turned out with Selina. Even before Diana came along, he had always tried to dissuade her from chasing after him; he was no good for her and vis-a-versa. But she had never pursued him as aggressively back then. He knew that Diana's presence had brought upon an intimidating competitiveness in her.

He lowered his chin to his chest as he convinced himself that he should go talk to Selina and try to clear as much of it up as possible.

* * *

"Todd?! Jason you okay?!" Jason wanted to cringe at the sound of Roy's voice screaming his name, but he refrained from doing so. He was afraid that if he moved even a millimeter he would find a sword lodged into his throat. His eyes shifted from the silver sword near his collar to the adamant eyes of the one who wielded it. This dark haired woman had successfully tackled him and pinned him to the floor. His pupils dilated as his eyes took in the beauty that stood (well, more like leaned) over him. Then suddenly, his mind registered what his eyes had seen and his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Diana?" He called slowly. When her own eyes widened in some sort of recognition at the name, Jason realized that this woman wasn't Diana, they just looked alike. This woman was younger and had a more energetic and youthful aurora than Diana.

"How do you know that name?" Her expression changed back into a fierce and determined one, but less murderous and more curious.

"JASON!" The red-head shouted once more, hearing the commotion from a few feet away. He couldn't see what was happening behind all the shrubs and bushes, but he knew that Jason was not alone. He cradled Kori into his chest as she began to sob in pain once more.

"How do you know Diana?!" Jason could see that his silence was getting her annoyed and frustrated. He saw as she raised her arm so that the sword was at a steeper angle. It was a silent warning that if he did not speak up soon, she would kill him.

"It's a long story, but she's sa-"Jason's answer was cut short when they both heard Roy yelling as he ran towards their location. Jason smirked as he saw the woman slip up and turn her sword to face Roy who was charging at her. He swiftly reached for his switch blade which was concealed in a compartment on his back and whipped it at her neck.

All three of them froze like statues as they realized that one wrong move and they would endanger each other's lives. Jason was kneeling a foot away from the attacker with his arm extended and the steel of his blade caressing her skin. His eyes warned her that if she tried anything funny, she wouldn't even have any time to regret it while bleeding out on the floor. Jason's eyes darted to Roy and saw that his upper body was bent backwards as he tried to dodge the tip of the sword that would have found its way through his skill if he hadn't have dodged it.

"Roy, move back _slowly_," Jason commanded with an even tone, he was calm now that he was in charge of the situation, "You, lower your sword _slowly_,"

Roy listened quietly for once in his life as he cautiously backed away from the sword. The woman on the other hand, was not so obedient. She just turned her head to glare at Jason with distaste. She had lost this battle the moment she turned her attention away from Jason. Instead of slowly dropping her sword, she just let go of it so that a loud, crisp bang could be heard as it hit the uneven surface of the forest floor.

"Great, glad you can follow directions," Jason sarcastically muttered as he steadily got up to his feet without moving the blade from her throat. Their eyes remained locked onto each other as they anticipated the others moves, but Jason could see that the woman resigned from trying to attack them.

"What's your name?" Jason asked as he gave a reassuring look to Roy who was keeping a close eye on the situation.

"How do you know Diana?" She answered with a question of her own. Jason inwardly sighed. He would not get any answers out of her till she got her own answers first.

"She bought me at the purge," there was obviously more to it than just that, but he would only give her what she needed to know.

"You're a resistance member? Figures," she retorted,

"What's that supposed to mean you hag?" Roy spat. This rewarded him with a death glare from both his friend and the stranger.

"This territory hasn't been scouted yet by the Purgers. So it makes sense that you're resistance members," she explained, looking up at Jason, "She followed you to your base, where is she?"

"How do _you_ know her?" Jason decided that it was her turn to answer some of his questions,

"I'm her sister," Jason found that he wasn't even surprised by the answer. He had not known that Diana had a sister, but there was no way they would have looked so alike unless she was Diana's daughter. A theory which he highly doubted, considering how they only looked years apart.

"As interesting as this seems, I need to go check up on Kori," Roy announced his departure as he patted his pants down and then turned to walk back to his girlfriend. Jason withdrew his knife and tucked it back into its compartment on his back.

"She's at the camp," Jason walked around as if he was looking for something, "She's safe so you don't have to worry,"

Diana's sister just looked at him warily as she got up to her feet and brushed the dirt off her knees and arms, "names Donna,"

"Jason," he replied more out of manners rather than actually wanting her to know his name.

"Is the camp nearby?" She took a cautious step towards him, unsure if she could completely trust him yet, "Could you take me there?"

"Why're you looking for her in the first place?" he wasn't sure if giving her the location of the base was a smart idea, she could have been trying to fool them.

"She's my sister," she simply stated as if that was enough to answer any questions he had.

"Which might be a complete lie in itself,"

"Why would I lie about that?"

"I wouldn't know. I never tried to be anybody's sister before," his smart ass comment got her riled up,

"I need to talk to her about this whole alliance nonsense. They're not taking her absence well at the capital and I can't seem to get in touch with her," Donna explained, silently cursing at herself for so easily telling Jason things that should never have left her lips.

"What's happening?" he found himself a little worried at the snippet she had told him. The resistance might be in trouble then.

"War,"

* * *

"Lex, this suit is only a prototype isn't it?" Connor tilted his head as he examined the green and purple suit. It was bulky and large in every aspect. The arms of the suit looked smooth at first glance, but he looked closely and saw how there were creases which were supposed to pop up and reveal different types of arsenal. He scrutinized the suit as he came to the realization that this was not a mere suit, it was a weapon.

"Yes," Lex replied as he struggled with some wires by the side, "Connor, grab these for me,"

Connor looked over and saw the bundle of wires and tubes that Lex had accumulated over the handles of his wheelchair. He walked over, wrapped his arms around them and lifted them with ease.

"What are these for?"

"For the suit," Lex muttered as he wheels his way over to a panel that hovered above the ground right by the suit.

"Okay… and what's the suit for?" Connor raised an eyebrow. He was concerned that Lex was about to get himself hurt doing whatever he was trying to do with this weapon of a suit.

"For me," the older man was getting irritated with Connors continual bombardment of questions.

"Yeah but for what?" he walked over to where Lex was with the bundle of wires and looked over his shoulder to see what his mentor was up to. Connor began to feel frustrated with the way Lex was avoiding answering his questions. It made him sense that there was something wrong.

"Connor," Lex stopped what he was doing and looked up at the younger boy with a straight face, "I need a few weeks to be able to walk on my own AND I only have a few weeks to find this Amazon bitch. WHY do you think I need this suit?"

Connor just bit his cheek as he raised his eyebrows at the hostility Lex had just sent his way. He was used to him being this short tempered, but that didn't mean he liked it very much.

"Plug those into the respective pockets behind the suit. It's all color coordinated-shouldn't be too hard," venom was still laced in his voice as he spoke to Connor. He went back to typing in specifications into the control panel, not a hint of regret marring his face.

"Sure," Connor walked over to the back of the suit and began connecting the numerous wires to the ports they belonged in. He found that he enjoyed the silence for once. By the time he was finished with all the wires, Lex was done as well. The bald man waved a hand and motioned for the boy to come over to him.

"You understand that I'm under a lot of pressure right now, right?" Lex said in an attempt to apologize to the boy,

"Yeah," Connor reluctantly nodded, not 100% over what had just happened between the two of them.

"Good, that's my boy," Lex gave him a slap on the back, "now help me get into this,"

Connor looked at him warily, afraid that he was helping the person who was the closest thing he had to a family, into something dangerous. Something he might never return from.

"C'mon," Lex shot him a smile and Connor found that he felt a little bit more relieved. He comforted his own anxiety by convincing himself that Lex was too smart to get himself into something dangerous. He cautiously reached between him and the wheelchair to easily lift his guardian up and into the awaiting suit.

* * *

Bruce put on his coat and grabbed his com-link before leaving his room to go find and talk to Selina. It was getting late, and so he was hoping she was in her room so he would be able to find her easily. As he reached for the door sensor, he felt someone else's presence near the door. Wondering who it might be and how long they had stayed there, he slowly opened the door.

Standing in front of his door was one of his most promising leaders, Dick. Bruce just stood there as he waited for a reaction from the young man, but realized that he wouldn't get one out of him unless he said something first.

"Everything alright?"

"Somewhat," the younger man muttered as he rolled his head to the side and gazed down the hallway. His eyes were searching, as if he forgot the reason why he had come there and would find the answer somewhere on the walls or the concrete floor.

The two of them just remained there in silence. Their relationship had always been a little awkward, but Bruce felt that there was a huge gap between the two of them now. He found that in light of the recent events, it was getting harder for him to approach Dick. He wore the guilt of Barbara getting shot on his shoulders and continued to tread along with his duties, but Dick was taking it much worse than him. The younger man was always more sensitive to these things, blaming himself for not being able to prevent others from getting hurt. This was possibly one of his biggest flaws. It always handicapped him, disabling him from seeing the bigger picture and being able to cope with it better. The scars of his past would not only bear their marks on him, but they would always weigh him down as long as he let them

"I know this is late and long overdue," Dick hung his head low as he studied the cold, grey floor beneath his two feet, "but I'm…for everything I did…for blaming you and shit-I'm sorry,"

A mellow expression flooded Bruce's features as he took to heart the apology and wanted to tell him that he didn't deserve it. It should be him apologizing for putting Barbara in that situation-for her getting shot. He was the last person that deserved an apology.

"You don't need to apologize to me for anything," Bruce told him. His low baritone voice filled Dick's hollow heart and suddenly the young man wanted to cry. But he refused. The last person he would be caught crying in front of is Bruce. So he swallowed the tears that were so eager to be let free and looked up at his mentor with steady, determined eyes.

"Just shut up and take it. It's probably the last time you'll ever hear me apologize to your sorry ass," Dick asserted as he squared his shoulders, finding them much lighter than they were minutes ago.

Bruce cocked an eyebrow at his sudden recovery and shot him a warning look.

"That stopped working on me like 10 years ago," Dick mocked as he raised his own eyebrow challengingly. The quick change in the atmosphere between the two had made it less awkward. It felt natural to be bantering with Bruce like this.

Bruce just shook his head, trying hard not to smile. He was glad that the old Dick had made his way back. He knew that Barbara was behind all of this. She probably coaxed Dick into coming and talking to him. Dick was a stubborn mule, but he would do almost anything for Barbara, even apologize to someone he wanted to kill up until a few moments ago.

"How's Barbara?" Bruce asked, knowing that Dick was the best person to ask since the young man spent almost every second of the day by her side now.

"Babs is taking this whole thing a lot better than the both of us combined," Dick raised his arm and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. It was true, she was really optimistic for someone who was confined to a wheelchair or a hospital bed.

"Typical," Bruce replied with a grin as he thought about the young woman. Barbara was always the mediator between him and his headed mentees. She created an equilibrium that no one else could have created. Bruce hated to admit it, but she was good at calming him down and making him see things in a more positive light. He was glad to see that things between her and Dick had started to create some momentum. Even though it took a bullet and lots of tears and trials, nothing made him happier than seeing the two of them making progress together.

"So, this whole thing with Diana…" Dick said out loud. He was completely aware that her room was only a couple of feet away from where they were standing.

Dick noticed how Bruce's eyes scrambled around the hall looking to see if anyone (particularly Diana) had heard what Dick just implied. He muffled his laughter as he watched his former mentor scowl at him.

"There's nothing between us," Bruce stammered, upset that he had allowed Dick of all people, to get under his skin like that.

"Yeah, Yeah," Dick shook his head in disbelief, "You can try to fool me, but I've known you for far too long Bruce. In fact, I've known you for SO long that I know all the expressions you can make, and I've _never_ ONCE seen you make the one you make whenever she's around,"

Bruce rolled his eyes and sighed. Was he losing his touch? Had his poker face done him no good? People were starting to be able to read him like an open book.

"It's none of your business," he simply replied, wishing that they would stop talking about it, especially in that particular location.

"It will be when you ask me to be your best man," Dick winked as he scurried down the hall before Bruce had the chance to tear him a new one, "Good talk!"

Bruce shook his head as he watched him run down the hall back to Barbara's quarters. He was glad that things had been figured out between the two of them. Most of the time it just took an apology, but the two of them were so stubborn that it would take days, weeks and sometimes even months to get an apology out between the two of them.

"Good talk," Bruce sighed to himself as he turned to close his door and followed the path Dick had tread just moments ago. He still had another person to talk to tonight, and he hoped that this one would turn out just as good.

* * *

A.N: Honestly, I love writing dialogue between Bruce and Dick. I always felt as though Dick wanted to be more of a 'dick' to Bruce, but he always has to cut himself short or else he'll find himself in a life or death situation. Even in the comics they seemed more like Brothers rather than father &amp; son (even though they are nothing like the prime definition of father &amp; son). So I find that their banter is usually the most entertaining out of the bat-clan pairings. Let me know what YOU think of Dick &amp; Bruce's relationship!

Please feel free to leave questions/comments/suggestions! It's always great to hear from you guys :)!

Till Next Time!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Medium -sized update!  
Thanks for all the reviews :) As always, it's great to hear back from you guys!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Selina," Bruce called out as he knocked on her door for the third time. He knew she was in there, by the absence of the meowing from her cat. Usually whenever someone was by her door and Selina was not in the room, the cat would constantly meow and beg to be let out. He was tempted to just turn around and walk away, but that would mean he was walking away from Selina and not keeping the promise he had made to himself to make things better for her.

A frown formed on his lips as he thought about how much he had truly hurt her, he understood that she has had years and years' worth of unrequited feelings towards him, but that was exactly what it was-unrequited. He could never return those feelings, and even if he wanted to and tried, it would never be genuine and real. Although the majority of time she was selfish and rebellious, he of all people knew how good-hearted she actually was. The way she acted was some sort of defense she had built up from her broken childhood, something that she did to protect herself from ever being hurt again. He understood her best, since he was pretty the same. And here he came along and broke down her defenses and had hurt her just the way she had tried to avoid being hurt.

Bruce shook his head and ran a nervous hand through his dark hair; he realized that he had hurt her more than he had previously thought. He told himself that this would be his last attempt before he retreated back to his quarters. There was no use in talking to someone who did not want to be bothered. As he raised his hand up to knock on the door with his bare knuckles, the door slide open a few inches.

Bruce gazed upon her wary emerald eyes as she just watched him from the other side of the door. He patiently waited for her to open the door for him to enter, but soon realized that this was as close as he would get to both her and her room. She had brought up her walls once again, and he was not sure if he would ever be able to get past them again.

"What is it Bruce?" her words were short and her voice was weak. He felt his insides churn as he blamed himself for bringing down a woman who had once held such high self-esteem.

"Selina," he tried to make his voice a little softer than his usual gruff one, "I wanted to talk,"

"About?" he found that he was kind of glad that there was a door between the two of them. It made him feel secure about the things he wanted to say to her. He felt like they both felt protected in this position.

"Our relationship," it had felt so awkward for him to use that word, but he couldn't even think up of a word that would have described their relationship. They weren't necessarily friends, nor were they simply acquaintances. He made it his goal to establish this during their talk.

"Maybe some other time," her voice was monotone, and for the first time he found her hard to read. He couldn't tell if she was upset or mad, just that she was not happy.

Bruce just gave her a nod realizing that the wound was too fresh and deep, he would not be able to discuss the matter with her until she viewed it as a bygone. He expected her to shut the door, but was surprised when she opened the door more so that he could see the mess she had become in the past few hours.

Selina's short inky hair had been tousled, her green pupils were encased in the red from her bloodshot eyes and her face was sullen. Bruce assessed that she must have been crying for hours. He felt the immediate need to soothe her and tell her that none of this was her fault, that he had been the one who carelessly threw her heart around. But he knew that, that would have been a step backwards for the both of them and that somewhere along the road he needed to break her heart like he did today. Instead of saying or doing anything, Bruce just stood there as he waited to see what she wanted.

"Here," Selina reached out her hand with her palm facing downwards. Bruce slowly stuck out one of his hands to receive whatever it was that she was giving him. His eyes widened as she turned her palm up to reveal a small crystal in her grasp that was radiating a bright green aura. He watched in curiosity as she turned her hand so that the mineral would slide off of her palm and into his waiting ones. Bruce took a few more seconds to observe the crystal before pocketing it in his pants and turning his attention back to Selina.

Her lips were tight and slightly curved into a smile as she tried to reassure him that she was okay, but her eyes screamed at him to hold her so that she could cry for a few more hours. He felt his inner conflict as he knew what was best, but felt as though it wasn't _right_.

"Thank you," Bruce whispered as she tilted her head down towards the floor and shut the door between the two of them. He knew that neither of them had won, and that both of them had felt more lost and broken than they had before that day.

* * *

"WHERE IS IT?!" Lex roared as he stomped through the entire laboratory in his new monstrous suit. He easily lifted and flipped lab equipment a normal human being would not be able to even nudge.

His precious crystal was gone, without a trace. He had walked into the laboratory after dismissing Connor, afraid that the crystal would affect him. When he went over to the high secure box in which he put the kryptonite in and opened it, it was gone. And since then, he had been ransacking every laboratory in search for the whereabouts of his crystal.

Even with the automated cooling system of the suit, he found that his entire body was drenched in sweat. It was the type of perspiration you got out of adrenaline and fear-cold sweat. For years, he had planned out the dethroning of the Supreme Being, and finally the plans were being set in motion. But after a matter of a few days, everything had been taken from him. His life and mission was being threatened to be taken away by Kal if he did not recover the self-righteous Empress and now his key-stone was missing. Nothing mattered without the kryptonite, because he would never be able to match up to the sheer power of the Supreme. The man was slaying gods and taking over the entire world. Even with this suit, Lex would be powerless against him.

He cursed over and over again as he closed his eyes and began to think of who might have possibly taken the crystal. Kal did not know of Lex's possession of the crystal. There had been two instances in the past where Kal had been exposed to it and only Lex and the scientist from before had known about the weak-

Lex's thoughts veered off as his eyes widened at the realization. They were both in the lab when the resistance members attacked. Lex had been knocked out, while the researcher was taken hostage. He sneered as he realized that the meddlesome resistance members must have taken the kryptonite from the lab that day. He only prayed that the scientist did not tell them the true purpose of the crystal.

He raised his arm, which caused the giant mechanical arm to rise as well.

"Call Kara," he commanded into the display of the arm. The screen switched on and brought up a hologram of Kara.

"What is it?" she asked with attitude, she had never liked Lex and that was perfectly fine with him. She did not serve as any valuable asset besides being Kal's secretary.

"I need to meet with him,"

"When?" her irritated voice had started to irritate him as well. She might as well have tried to make her work _seem_ a little more enjoyable, that way perhaps it might become so someday.

"Now," his voice boomed through the empty halls of the research labs and through the corridors all the way to the ears of Barry, who stood nearby doing his job and searching for evidence.

* * *

Bruce stood at the small mount before the dip of land that led into the murky waters of the underground cave he was exploring. His feet were planted into the small shard of rocks and rich minerals with his one good hand shoved deep into his jacket pocket. His gaze was distant as he was deep in thought and reflection. He should be catching up on some sleep, but he had found his way to the cave instead. This was his secret hideout, his little getaway from everything and everyone. He used to come here at least twice a week, but the last time he had actually been down in the depths had been over a month ago.

His mind played back the events of the past few weeks, trying to get a good grasp on what has and needs to be done. Jason, Barbara, Selina and Diana were the four most important factors of the equation that had made up his days recently. Each of them were so important him but for all different reasons. But regardless of the situation and relationships, they all had one thing in common and that would be his guilt. Jason was like his younger brother, someone who he has seen himself in and tried so hard to make him see that the tragic events of his life could make him a better person, but failed to. Barbara was the heart of their little group of commanders, she was the one who always held everything up together and wove all their relationships together. But now, she had a struggle of her own, one which he had helped bestow upon her with his mission-comes-first mentality. Selina was the woman who had seen something in him and chased after it, and all he had done was break her heart. And last but not least, Diana…Although Bruce had little to no impact on her life up until now, he felt guilty of exactly that. That he had not pushed harder and further so that she could have reached out to him sooner. So that she would not have lost her sisters, her mother and her gods. He didn't know what it was exactly or even how it was, but he just felt like he needed to do everything in his power to help her attain her victory. She had said she needed him, and he needed her as well. He found hope that he had lost 20 years ago, hope that together, they would be able to finally take down the Supreme-

"Bruce!" Tim's voice echoed through the cave. Bruce turned around and saw no trace of the teenager; he was probably still making his way to the open area of the cave. Only a select handful of resistance members knew of the cave. It was accessible only from the surface, so only commanders and such were allowed to roam freely. Tim had been one of them. A few years back, Bruce was making his way out of the camp and towards the entrance of the cave when he felt a presence following him. Tim had thought he had been sneaky, but Bruce knew. He just found it intriguing that the boy was so good at hiding himself. Any normal person would never have noticed the boy, but Bruce was no ordinary person. He let the boy follow him to the cave, just to see how far this boy would take the game and it turns out he had followed him through the dark corridors and the atrocious smells all the way to the place where he stands today. That was the day that Bruce had taken Tim under his wings and trained him.

Bruce completely turned his body around and faced the path he had taken to get there. He heard Tim's feet scrape the rocks as he made is way out of the dark halls and into the lit area.

"Honestly, I don't know how you stand coming here," the boy made a retching expression as he made his way over to his mentor, "I could never get used to the smell of it,"

"I think it smells wonderful," Bruce stated with a serious expression and tone of voice. This won him a disgusted glance from Tim who shook his head at Bruce's sarcastic humor.

"Do you think we smell like this place when we leave?" the boy sniffed at his armpits, half serious half joking.

"Stephanie doesn't like the smell of bat-waste?" Bruce grinned as he teased him,

"Funny," Tim sneered. He crossed his arms and stopped walking towards Bruce, "I'm guessing Diana does though,"

It was Bruce's turn to shoot him a glare as he silently told him that the topic was one that would be deemed unapproachable in the cave. Tim raised his hands and eyebrows as if to say he was sorry he ever went there.

"Brooding?" Tim switched the topic as he took a seat on the bed of rocks besides Bruce.

"Thinking," Bruce corrected.

"Same thing," he picked up a rock and skid it across the murky water, "about what?"

He didn't get a reply from Bruce as he just watched the five circles disperse where the rock had skidded on. Tim looked up and saw the Bruce wasn't going to answer his question, so he changed it,

"Are you thinking about Jason?"

"Are you?" Bruce turned the question around on the boy. Tim realized he should have known better than to question the detective of the resistance group.

"He told me he was leaving," Tim muttered as he pulled his legs close to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, "I thought he was bluffing…"

"We all did," Bruce offered as some sort of comfort. He knew that Jason's departure had weighed heavily on Tim's shoulders. They were much closer than a lot of people would have thought at first glance. Tim had looked up to Jason and always wanted to help him get over his dark past. The only person who was at fault was Bruce himself, he should have prepared for this day to come a long time ago but he remained hopeful in Jason.

"I got mad when he told me he was leaving, just left him with Roy because I was so upset," Bruce turned and saw that the boy had retreated into a small little ball, Tim was scared that Jason didn't know what he was doing and would get hurt. Bruce reached down and ruffled his soft hair with his functioning hand. Tim looked up and witnessed the rare gentle gaze that Bruce's cobalt blue eyes were emitting. It made his heart feel at ease, and his guilt disappear.

"He'll be back," Bruce promised. He found that his words were not only reassuring to Tim, but also to himself. He had surely hoped that Jason would eventually find his way back. He worried that his rash nature would get him in life-threatening situations. There was no way he would be able to find him, unless he left the resistance to manage itself and went out to seek him. Something which would never happen, at least not until Dick was fully recovered from Barbara's incident.

"Yeah right," the boy mumbled as he wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his red jacket. He knew that it would take a lot for Jason to come back, but he had hoped from the bottom of his heart that he would. Although it had only been a couple of days since he last saw him, he already missed him.

Bruce lifted his hand from Tim as he heard his com-link go off in his ear. He found it strange that Tim's didn't go off. Perhaps he didn't bring his? That would be out-of-character for the boy. He reached up and waved his hand by his ear to pick up the incoming call from Dick.

"Hey Bruce, we just spotted two units approaching camp from the north," his voice sounded excited as he reported the news to Bruce, "One of them is Jason,"

Bruce turned back towards Tim with an involuntary grin on his face. Both of their wishes had come true, Jason was coming back. But his grin was short-lived as he remembered being told that there was a total of three people who had left the camp; Jason, Kori and Roy. Why would there only be two returning?

"Who's the other?" Bruce's voice snapped into commander mode

"We're not sure, but Roy &amp; Kori are nowhere in sight," Dick's voice was more somber than a few seconds ago, "we need you up here,"

"I'll be right there," Bruce replied as he turned his com-link off and placed his hand on Tim's shoulder.

Tim looked up and noticed how Bruce's eyes were brighter than before. A huge smile planted itself on the boy's lips as he wanted to jump for joy. He didn't even hear the words leave Bruce's lips but he knew that look on his mentor's face.

"Jason's back," He stated rather than questioned as his eyes lit up in joy. His only response from Bruce was a short nod, and that was enough for him.

* * *

A/N:  
Hope you enjoyed this update!  
If you haven't already, do take a quick look at my one-shot "Pure As Snow". it's short and sweet :)!

Leave me any questions/comments you have with a review!  
Thanks for reading,  
Till next time~


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Won't lie... I forced myself to write this. It's been awhile since I last updated this fanfic, but I'm running out of juice :(  
but weeeeee! An update is an update!

Enjoy~

* * *

"This better be the right way," Donna muttered, obviously still not too trusting of the young man who was supposedly leading her to the resistance camp where her older sister was hiding. She walked two steps behind him so that she would be able to counter him if he were to try and pull something on her.

"You've got no other choice but to trust me on that one, princess," Jason muttered, her lack of trust in him understandable, but only to an extent. If she kept penalizing him and making rude comments then he won't apologize when he blows a fuse on her.

"Were you patrolling?" She asked, semi-curious and semi-small talking. She knew that Jason was the type of person to appreciate the silence, but he would speak when spoken to.

"Something like that," he didn't want to talk about his running away from home to escape a particular person, especially not with someone who ran away from home to find someone. He could have decided to just ignore her and be on his way to finding the shelter with Roy and Kori (which at this point disappeared into thin air), but he felt the urgency in her mission to find Diana. And just like her older sister, Donna exuded truth and genuine-intent. It was a strange feeling for Jason to simply trust someone on pure instinct. He was trained and pretty much raised by one of the most skeptical people to have roamed the planet, but he was betraying his own logic. Only time would tell if he was correct in placing his trust onto these two sisters.

"You ran away," her words pierced his ears and planted guilt into his heart. It was strange to hear someone say that to him, and he found that it had affected him a lot more than he thought it originally would.

"Beautiful and smart... guess the world's evolving," Jason replied smartly. He didn't want to show her how he words affected him. He continued to cut away at the forest nonchalantly, pretending to not be fazed by her conviction.

"Humor me Jason," he could hear the curiosity etched into her voice, "why did you run away?"

He hated hearing her say those two words 'run away'. Perhaps he did run away, but the voice she said it in made it sound like a sin, as if he had betrayed his people.

"Obviously it wasn't anything terrible since you have no issue returning there with me," she thoughtfully placed a finger on her sharp chin as she considered the possibilities. It really did mystify her as to why he would have run away, when all her sister wanted to do was run to it.

"I tried to kill someone," Jason instantly regretted saying it. Donna was nobody; in fact she had no reason or right to know about him. She would judge him and his morals without really knowing him, and for some reason that bothered him immensely. But what she asked in response, took him off guard.

"Did he deserve it?" She asked calmly. If her tone of voice was any indication, Jason's not-so-moral tendencies did not seem to bother her one bit. In fact it sounded as though she understood, and wanted to help him justify it.

Knowing that she was watching him from behind, he just nodded his head. He stopped walking when he felt her place a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was warm and comforting. He didn't realize how much he had missed those two feelings till she brought them about.

"Then I'm sure they'll understand," he knew she was referring to Bruce and everyone else. But that was it, they didn't understand. They were the ones who refused to kill. They were the ones that made him believe HE had to do the dirty work himself. Even with those thoughts constantly lingering in his head, he found that for once… he felt the burden lighten a little. Telling a stranger and having them try to understand and comfort him, had made him feel more at ease-even if it was only temporary.

Donna lightly squeezed his shoulder, noticing how he was a little more relaxed than he was seconds ago. This young man carried a great burden that was unknown to her and she was happy that she could have helped him lighten the load, even if it was the slightest bit.

"We're almost there," Jason muttered as he walked away from her reach. Their little moment was over, and the silence crept in between them once again. But he felt that a bridge had formed between the two of them in the short amount of time they had spent together.

"Let's hurry," Donna's determination to find her sister dominated everything else. She needed to warn her of the terrible things to come.

* * *

"R-Roy…?"

The red-head spun around from the make-shift workbench he had created in the little cavern they found shelter in. His green eyes were lit up with both relief and glee as he watched Kori stir from her slumber without her constant cries of pain. It had only been a little more than half a day since they left the camp, but the entire time, Kori was acting up. He and Jason couldn't figure out what it was, except that it began as soon as they exited the base and that her body was heating up tremendously. He quickly walked over to where she lay on top of his sleeping bag.

"Hey princess, how you holding up?" He waited patiently as she struggled to open her eyes. He reached over with his hand and gently brushed away some of her bright red hair from her face. Her breaths were shallow, but they were constant.

"Roy…my body i-it feels like it's on…fire," she whispered weakly. Her face winced in pain as she lifted her arm to grab hold of her lovers arm for support. There were multiple waves of heat that drummed up and down her body. The blood beneath her skin felt like molten lava as it flowed through each and every vein, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

"Kori, you're burning up too much," She heard the panic in his voice, she felt terrible for making him worry like this, "do you know why this might be happening to you?"

"No, I-I've never felt this before," she clenched her teeth as she felt the temperature of her body shoot up once more. Roy yelped in pain as his arm burned where she had held him. This was not a simple issue of body temperature, there was something bigger going on, and even with his brilliant mind he wasn't sure if he could help fix it.

"R-Roy, what's h-happening?!" Kori screamed as she felt an outburst of power and heat exert from her body. She wanted to reach out to Roy, to just ask him to hold and embrace her and make it all go away. But when she looked over to where he cowered in the corner of the cavern, all she saw was fear in his eyes.

"Kori…" Roy dropped his hands as he leaned towards her, his eyes wide open as he took in the sight that stood-or rather…radiated in front of him, "-you're glowing,"

* * *

"Grayson," Jason muttered as he held up a tree branch so that Donna could walk under it with ease. She nodded him her silent thanks and looked around for whoever it might be that Jason was addressing.

"Todd," A voice replied up above them in the trees. Jason just rolled his eyes at the older man's antiques.

"Who's the chick?" Jason wasn't surprised to hear Tim approach them from the front like a normal person. Tim was always more straight forward and to the point. It was the little detective in him-something he could really appreciate at times.

"Donna," Donna replied, Jason could hear the annoyance laced in her voice at being referred to as a 'chick', "who's the little _boy_?"

"Watch yourself," Tim snapped back as he whipped out his staff, ready to fight her if he had to prove to her that he wasn't just some little boy to be made fun of.

"Cool it," Dick leapt from the tree and landed next to Tim in front of the two, "You were gone for literally 14 hours, figured it would take you at least 24 to start missing us,"

"I'm just here as her tour guide," Jason nodded his head towards Donna who seemed rather impatient at that moment, "Speaking of which, she needs to see Diana,"

Dick tilted his head as he tried to assess the situation. Jason wasn't a bad guy, if anything he was simply misunderstood. But he also wasn't known to be a gentleman, so he found it odd that he had escorted Donna all the way back here. Especially when he just left not too long ago.

"Bruce is waiting inside," Tim intervened. He knew what Dick was thinking, and figured that he had time to consider that while Jason and Donna talked with Bruce and Diana. But right now, he needed to get Jason inside where he would be able to talk to him.

"I have to return to Roy and Kori," Jason muttered to Donna before turning on his heels to return to the direction from which they came from moments ago. Dick wasn't surprised that Jason decided not to stay, it would have been awkward for him to return and talk to Bruce about it all. Tim wasn't all too surprised either, but he found that he was disappointed, so he didn't bother to stop himself when he called Jason a coward out loud.

Jason continued in his steps, he refused to acknowledge Tim. He knew he had hurt Tim when he left without saying goodbye or even leaving him with a decent reason. He had also hoped that it wouldn't be him to greet them at the perimeter, because it would make it that much harder for him to just walk away again.

"Thought the Empire took all the cowards with them, but I was wrong," Tim sneered through his clenched teeth at Jason's back. This brought about a reaction from the older man. Jason froze, his back still facing them. If Tim wasn't the closest thing he had to a younger brother, the teenager would have been dead on the floor by now. Jason hated the Empire itself more than the injustice that had been bred throughout the world.

"Tim, that's enough," Dick grabbed the younger one by his shoulders and tried to reign him in. In a sense, he understood how Tim felt-Jason was running away from his responsibilities; he didn't want to follow Bruce's orders anymore. But to compare him to a member of the Empire was overstepping the boundaries. He knew Tim was upset, he had lost someone close to him once and that same person was about to be lost to him again.

"Screw you Jason, you talk all high and mighty about your stupid morals and justifications-but you could give less than a rats-ass about your family," Jason could hear the tears rattle up inside Tim's voice, "Screw you and your stupid beliefs,"

Donna felt so out of place at that moment. It wasn't her argument to stand in on, if she still had the ability to fly, she would've gladly flew all the way back to the empire to avoid this awkward moment. But at the same time she was a little glad that she could witness how much love and care Jason was really surrounded by. She had worried that the young man had not known what love was, and that he was a lost and hopeless soul-but after seeing how these two men had cared for him (even though it was more spite and anger), she was relieved. She turned her head slightly towards Jason, silently hoping that he would turn back and return, even if it was only for a little bit. Tim obviously cared greatly for him, and judging by how hard Jason was clenching his fists, he cared for him just as much. But she knew that Jason was different, that at the end it wasn't about how he felt or even about how others felt. It was about doing what was right. He lived a very black and white world, and right now what he deemed 'right' was to abandon what he had when he lived here with them and to create a new world and sense of self for himself. He would not return, at least not for now.

And for the first time in her life, she was sad and disappointed that her intuition was correct. Jason did not turn around to face them, instead he just walked off into the forest-alone and carrying yet another burden on his heavy shoulders.

* * *

Bruce knocked on the re-enforced steel doors three times, before lifting his wrist to check the time. He only had a few minutes to spare before he was due at the meeting room to confront Jason and the visitor. He scoffed at himself for even considering that Jason might grace him with his presence. The younger man would probably not stay for long, and even if he did he would avoid Bruce at all cost.

"Bruce? This is rare…what is it?" a voice asked as they opened the door a crack just to see who it was that had knocked on his door.

"Ray, I need your assistance," Bruce turned to lean against the other door. Ray Palmer didn't like to be disturbed too often, he had a lot of projects to do and a lot of them required strict concentration. Bruce reached into his breast pocket and reached out a small baggie that held the green mineral inside and passed it through the crack to Ray's curious and awaiting hands.

"I need you to prioritize this, break it down and find out what it is for me," Bruce shoved his empty hands into his pant pockets, knowing that Ray would do an excellent job.

"I'm guessing this is all we've got of this," Ray studied it in his hands. It was a small fragment, perhaps only an inch in length and half an inch in width. The vibrant green aura it emitted was curious to him, he had never come across a rock like this.

"I need you to try and synthesize it,"

"I'll see what I can do," Ray tilted his head as he lifted the stone into the air to examine it in the light.

"Thanks," Bruce pushed off the wall to walk towards the meeting room,

"How's things with… what's her name… Diana?" Ray called out, knowing that his question would irritate and embarrass their usually stoic and cool leader.

"I need that done ASAP, Ray," Bruce sighed and bit the inside of his cheek as he stomped his way down the hall. He would have to find out whoever it was that was spreading these rumors and bring divine justice upon them.

* * *

A/N: If you guys have any cool ideas for this story, let me know! I'll take them all into serious consideration :)!

Thanks for reading!

I'll try to update as soon as possible~

Till next time!


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Thanks for all the Reviews!_

_Lengthy update~ :) Thanks for being so patient with muah!_

_But...please forgive me..._

* * *

"My sister?" Diana drops the weights she balanced in her hands as she looked over at Tim who was patiently waiting for her to realize who he it was that he was referring to.

"Donna? Ring any bells?" Tim crossed his arms. Diana inwardly smiled at his pose, he was only about 5'8", but he did a great impression of Bruce who towered over him.

"Where is she?" She reached down and grabbed her towel as she dabbed away at the thin layer of sweat that had accumulated across her skin. She had decided to work out in her quarters after receiving a request from Bruce to remain unseen and to keep a low profile. She sorely missed being able to utilize the large and high-tech gym facilities the Empire had to offer, but the rest of it-she didn't miss so much.

Glad to avoid answering the; who, what, when and how's, Tim was more than happy to present her with the where. He unfolded his arms and motioned with the jerk of his thumb for Diana to follow him out of her room. She grabbed the jacket Bruce had given her and walked out after Tim.

"She looks more like your twin rather than your younger sister," Tim stated as he took a quick glance to study Diana's face. He nodded as if to agree with himself that they were both gorgeous and utterly beautiful.

"We get that a lot," Diana smiled at the teenager, she was excited to see her beloved sister, but at the same time she was worried. They promised to keep in touch, but to only see each other in person if absolutely necessary. The lack of communication through their gods and meditation had made it seemingly impossible to keep in touch, but for Donna to come on her own instead of requesting Barry to do it had made her nervous. Did something happen to Barry? Was their plan compromised? She would soon find out for herself.

"Anyways Bruce is with her right now, but I wouldn't be too worried-he'll probably go easy on her too," Tim held open a door for Diana to pass through.

"_Too?_" Diana asked as she slightly turned to face him as she walked through the door. Was he trying to imply that Bruce had a soft side for her?

"Well you know," Tim gave her a knowing look, "Let's just say, I'm glad you two haven't tried to make a career out of acting,"

"Tim, I don't know what you're trying to imply, but Bruce and I… We're not-"

"-You don't have to explain anything to me. Those 'star-crossed lovers' look you two give each other explains plenty enough as is," he grinned from ear to ear. Tim was more than happy to see the two leaders getting along in more ways than one. If Diana hadn't arrived while Bruce was going through everything with Barbara, Dick and Jason he probably would have shut down and became an even darker person (if that was even possible). But thankfully Diana came around before he even had to see if an even darker Bruce was possible. And the cherry on top was that he actually really liked Diana. She was caring, considerate, smart, strong, honest and beautiful. She was the weight that balanced Bruce, in other words, she was perfect for him and vis-a-versa.

He looked over at the silent Amazon and saw how she was smiling to herself. If the situation didn't seem so urgent, he probably would have keeled over and laughed mercilessly at how dumb she had looked with that smile on her face. But she was happy, and hopefully Bruce would be to.

"Too obvious," Tim muttered, shaking his head. Diana heard him and snapped out of it, realizing he probably saw how she was smiling to herself.

"At least Bruce would probably be able to say something about it," Diana teased back, obviously implying his lack of initiative in his stalemate of a relationship with Stephanie. At this, Tim turned around with an annoyed glare. Diana just playfully stuck her tongue out at him, knowing that she had won this little battle with Tim.

"Whatever," The young man just sneered, but he was both happy and excited on the inside. He really liked Diana as someone for Bruce. He just hoped his mentor didn't screw things up like he always did with all things fluffy and nice.

* * *

"Diana should be here soon," Bruce handed her a cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted. He understood what Tim and Dick meant by how she looked just like Diana, but the more he looked, the more he realized that there were just as many differences as there were similarities. Donna looked younger in general; her energy and aura were filled with youth and naivety. But it was mostly in the way she smiled. Diana had a gentler and more loving smile, one that made him curious as to how he would get her to do it more often. Donna was also shorter by a handful of inches.

Donna looked up from her seat at the tall, well-built man standing by the wall. He seemed quiet, calculative and wise, all of which made him rather intimidating. He held an authoritative presence around him, leading her to believe that he was probably their leader. She took note of his good-looks; his jawline was pronounced with a strong chin, sharp nose and perfectly shaped lips. But above all, his piercing blue intelligent eyes were what took her breath away.

"Is that them?" Donna got up from her seat at the sound of two pairs of footsteps quickly approaching the room. She was excited to see Diana; it had been a little more than a week since she had last seen her sister.

Bruce remained silent as the door opened revealing his younger ward and the beautiful Amazon. He looked up and nodded at both of them, trying his best not to grin or smile at Diana.

Diana returned his nod with a small smile before turning to her beloved sister who ran towards her with open arms.

"Sister!" Donna jumped onto her, squeezing her tightly as she embraced her. Diana's smile grew as she lovingly patted her younger sister on the back while returning her hug. She had sorely missed Donna's presence, and she so she was beyond happy to be able to see her that very moment.

"I missed you dearly," Diana whispered into her hair as she leaned her cheek against the raven waves.

"You have no idea," Donna tucked her face into the crook of her sister's neck, never wanting to part with her ever again.

"It's like she's hugging herself," Tim whispered to Bruce who stood right next to him with his arms crossed. Bruce just grinned and shook his head at the teenager's humorous comment. He was happy to see the two sisters reunite. He knew Diana was worried about Donna, and she was also getting lonely. Having Donna around for however long it may be, will probably make her stay here more bearable.

"Donna, why did you come here?" Diana pulled her sister from her so that she could look her in the eye,

"It's not any good news…" Donna started, her expression changing from one of absolute glee to one of discomfort.

"Barry?!" Diana shouted as she clung to Donna's shoulders. Seeing as though it was Donna that came here and not Barry made her worry that something might have happened to her best friend.

Although his expression didn't change, Bruce was taken aback by Diana's reaction. He had never seen her that exasperated before. He couldn't help but wonder if Barry was someone important to her, someone she viewed as more than a friend. His heart hammered at the thought, would Diana react the same way if it was him who was lost? He mentally shook his head as if to expel those jealous thoughts from his head, now was not the time for any of these personal questions.

"No, no he's fine," Donna shook her head rapidly trying to assure her sister that her friend wasn't hurt or in danger. Diana closed her eyes and sighed before gathering herself again, happy that Barry wasn't compromised, but still worried about whatever else Donna had to tell her.

"What is it then?" Diana asked with her voice much calmer than it was moments ago. She saw how Donna quickly glanced uncomfortably over at the two guys by the wall, "They're fine,"

"I think they're talking about us," Tim whispered once more to Bruce, who pushed off the wall and approached the table, leaving Tim by himself.

"If you would rather talk in private, that could be arranged," Bruce offered as he walked up next to Diana, "But I assure you, you can trust us,"

Donna warily looked back and forth between Bruce and Diana before finally nodding and accepting that Diana had trusted this man so she should as well.

"Barry was sent off to the west to help investigate the disappearance of one of the council members, and he won't be back for another week or so," Diana nodded, grateful to know that Barry's lack of appearance was due to work and not him being found out or hurt, "But Diana… this news couldn't wait till he got back. I needed to tell you right away,"

At the corner of his eye, Bruce saw how Diana's sinewy arms flexed as she braced herself for whatever it was that Donna was about to tell her. He also noticed how Donna's eyebrows furrowed as she looked for a better way to phrase whatever it was she was about to say.

"In a few days, Steve Trevor is going to be executed for treason. They're saying that he released Jason so that he could take you as a hostage to the resistance," Donna bit her lower lip as she waited for Diana's reaction to the news.

"I don't understand…" Diana whispered, raising her hand to grip her upper arm as if to comfort herself, "Steve didn't do any of that,"

"But they can make _them_ believe that he did," Bruce muttered. Diana had explained to him the events of what had happened earlier. How she had asked Jason to take her hostage, but things fell out of place when Steve and Lex got involved. She played it by ear and eventually convinced Dick, Selina and Helena to take her back with them to their camp. He knew that she was mad at herself for getting Steve involved in the first place, even though he betrayed her by tattling. He was just a noble man who served the empire, truly believing in its cause. He was an innocent man who had found himself on the wrong side of things.

"They're framing him so that Lex AND _you_, don't look bad," Donna explained, "he's the scapegoat,"

"But why me?" Diana's eyes looked around the table as if the answers would appear there if she searched hard enough.

"Because the people love you, you're their beloved Queen-or rather was," Tim inserted, "Even though they might think you really were kidnapped, regardless of Lex's involvement… they need someone to take the fall. Someone who is within arm's reach…someone who the public can _see_ being punished for your kidnapping,"

"-And Lex is far too valuable to Kal for him to execute him, so they figured Steve was expendable to keep both yours and the Empire's name out of the gutter," Donna finished her explanation. She had carefully considered whether or not it was worth it to let her sister know. Diana was someone who had valued justice more than her own life, and would do anything in her power to make sure it was sought out and attained. Even though Steve had betrayed her by telling Lex about her talking to Jason, he hadn't actually committed any crimes against the Empire. And for him to take the fall for her plans would devastate Diana. She wouldn't stand for this sort of injustice.

"This isn't your fault," Donna and Tim looked over at Bruce who was trying to get Diana to look into his eyes. For Tim, it was rare to see Bruce reach out to someone like that. Usually he just played it cool and let things run off and about on their own, but to see him try to reassure Diana confirmed that Diana wasn't just anybody to him.

Donna watched as Bruce tilted his head to try and get her sister's attention. Something about the way he interacted with her had intrigued her, usually Diana would never let anyone approach her like that. She had always managed a cool, elegant exterior so that men would not even try to approach her. But watching her put her guard down around this man meant something, and Donna wasn't exactly sure what it meant beyond the fact that she trusted him.

"Of course it is," Diana bowed her head lower, hiding her sapphire tinted eyes from Bruce.

"That's not true-and you know it," Donna felt guilty for bring this news to her sister. Perhaps it would have been better if Diana didn't know, or only found out after the execution had happened. Steve was in no way, Donna's favorite person. She saw how he stared lustfully after Diana on many occasions, but that didn't mean he deserved any of this. But in this world-in this day and age, no one deserved half of the shit they received. They were in the middle of a war, and casualties were unavoidable. She just hoped that Diana would come to understand that.

"Hungry?" Everybody except for Diana looked over at Tim who was looking at Donna, "We can go grab something to eat,"

"Do you seriously think that's appropriate to ask right now?" Donna leered at him, questioning the teenager's sanity for bringing up such an absurd question in the middle of a serious talk.

"Hell yeah, food is always on my mind, isn't it for you?" Tim wriggled his eyebrows at Donna, trying to tell her to just go along with it and to get a hint. He was trying to get Bruce alone with Diana so they could talk about it. Bruce was the best when it came to persuading someone to be logical, and that was exactly what Diana needed right at that moment.

"No, it's not. Now quit being we-"

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to be alone with your sister for a little bit," Bruce interrupted her before she could fully reply to Tim's strange questions. He waited for Donna to look at him with a surprised expression before motioning with a tilt of his head for her to follow Tim. Tim rolled his eyes and shook his head at the girl's obviousness.

Donna glanced over at Diana, trying to determine whether or not leaving him alone with her would be the best decision. But seeing as though her sister didn't budge or make any notions of discomfort after the man had said that, she decided that she would be okay with him. But she would only allow them to talk briefly. She wanted to help comfort her sister, knowing that she was taking this a lot worse than she had anticipated her to.

"I'll be back in a bit," Donna said as she reached out and gently patted Diana's shoulder before leaving with Tim.

Bruce waited a few moments after their departure to turn his attention back to Diana who was still looking at the cement floor, seething and drowning herself in guilt.

"Diana," Bruce called out to her gently, but received no response.

This time he decided he would get her attention and no less. He reached out and gently yet firmly placed his hand under her chin and lifted it so that she would have to look him straight in the eye. Once again, he was taken aback by how beautiful and vibrant her eyes were. He felt himself lose his cool demeanor, and instead his entire body just turned into mush. He felt his heart shatter at how broken she looked at that very moment. He knew that she was hurting from the news of her former bodyguard being persecuted for her actions. But he refused to let her beat herself up over it, it wasn't her fault.

"Diana," He leveled his eyes with hers. Diana felt her heart stop at the intensity of that very moment. His eyes shot blue fire into hers and it scorched her very soul. Her mind banished all thoughts of guilt and self-pity, and instead was filled with thoughts of how wonderful it would be to just be held by him at that very moment.

"What're you thinking right now?" Bruce's deep voice made her breath hitch. There was no way in hell she was going to tell him she was thinking about how perfect they would fit together in an embrace. Diana mentally slapped herself, what has gotten into her? If Bruce ever found out how she was thinking about HIM while he's trying to comfort her about a dying man, he would probably be disgusted by her. Just what was it about him that made her act and think so strangely?

Bruce suddenly felt very guilty for thinking thoughts of kissing Diana right at that very moment. Her lips were only a few inches from his and theirs breaths intermingling in between. He couldn't help but let his thoughts be consumed by her and her perfect, lush lips. He realized that he had craved it, yearned for it and wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there to make her forget about her worries. But that was highly inappropriate at that moment. She was stressed and upset, he was there to comfort her-not take advantage of her.

"Bruce," Diana started as she reached up and lightly wrapped her fingers around his hand to slowly and regretfully pull them away from her face, "I can't let Steve take the fall for me,"

"The only one he's taking the fall for is the Empire," Bruce dropped his arm to his side, already missing the small bit of physical contact they had shared moments ago, "As harsh as this may sound; he knew what he was signing up for when he decided to serve the Empire, and this is a sacrifice he needs to make for it,"

Bruce felt guilty for saying it. Of course it wasn't true. No one deserved to die, but in order to save him it meant sacrificing another person, or perhaps many people. Right now, he had to bear the burden of watching a man die for something he was not guilty of. But if that meant keeping his allies and loved ones alive, he would bear the burden ten times over if he had to.

Suddenly, Diana found herself beyond infuriated. What Bruce had said was partially true; sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good. But to allow someone to be murdered to save the name of the Empire and a traitor of the Empire was beyond unjust. As long as she was alive and able to do something about it-she would. She refused to just stand around and let Steve die a dishonorable death. He was a loyal soldier who wanted nothing more than to serve the Empire and its cause; he did not deserve to die being unrightfully accused of being a traitor.

"I shouldn't have expected you to understand," Diana turned her head away as she shook her head, "This isn't just about the _war_ Bruce, this is about an individual man's life which I have wronged,"

"Diana, you know that's not what I was implying," Bruce realized that this conversation was going in the wrong direction, but he also knew that he didn't like being told that he doesn't understand something.

"Then what exactly_ were_ you implying?" She looked up at him annoyed by where this conversation was headed. She didn't want to argue with Bruce, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed at his lack of initiative to save an innocent man's life.

"You're not making this about ANY innocent man. You're making this about Steve Trevor. If it was any other man who was taking the fall for you, it wouldn't affect you this much," Bruce felt his body tense up unwillingly, he felt like he had to defend himself against her, to prove to her that he _did_ in fact understand her.

"Gods, that's a load of bullshit, and you know it Bruce. I would save _anybody_ and _everybody_ if I could. Especially those who have a bull's eye painted on their back because of me," Diana took a step back and turned her back to him. She was getting so frustrated and upset, when truthfully all she wanted to do was to be held by him and be told that things would be okay. Why had it turned out like this?

"Do I? I'm not sure if I could know that for_ sure_ Diana. Truthfully, I've only known you for a few _days_, that barely makes us acquaintances," Bruce remained calm as he spoke in his commanding voice and not the one he usually used around Diana, "for all I know, you've only come to us to save YOUR people and YOUR gods. All this talk about saving the innocent ones, when you've stood next to the one being who has taken more innocent lives in the past few years than any human has in the entire history of mankind,"

Every word that Bruce had spoken had hit their mark, as Diana felt her heart being stabbed a million times over and over again. What he said was true; she had been a coward while she stood by the Supreme. There had been many occasions in which she could have saved the innocent lives of both members of the resistance and the Empire, but she had stood idly by-waiting till the problem became personal. But that still didn't mean Bruce was right about this whole matter about Steve. Just because she had done wrong in the past, doesn't mean she was okay with continuing to do so.

"Bruce," She still refused to turn around and face him and this upset Bruce in more ways than one, "I should be the one standing in Steve's place, nobody else but me. And this won't change unless I _am_ where _I_ belong,"

Again, the feeling of hopelessness breached through his defenses and into his veins, spreading panic deep into his dismantled heart. Bruce felt his world crumble apart once more as he heard her speak words of sacrifice and loss. She was going to go give herself up, and he was going to lose another person he cared for. Someone, he only began to realize-that he cared for very much. He felt his body escape his reigns of control and his hand reached up to press up against his face in anguish. He began to breathe faster as his body began to panic. He didn't want to lose another person to this war; he didn't think he would be able to handle it. He tightly shut his eyes, trying to regain his self-control. This was unlike him, too out of character. He didn't know how to reel all of his emotions back in. He remembered this feeling, this uncontrollable feeling as though the world was but a mere maze that had no end, and he was simply a mouse stuck in the vortex, hopeless and alone. He was remembering what it felt like to be eight years old again, what it felt like to lose everything he had to the grasps of the Empire. But he was no longer a helpless little boy.

"Bruce?" Diana turned around to face him, afraid that she had said too much and made him upset. She had expected him to understand where she was coming from, but she would understand if he couldn't see her eye to eye. Bruce was someone she didn't want to lose too easily; she wanted him to stay there with her through the good and the bad. It was like he said-she knew what she was signing up for, it was just a matter of making the sacrifice. But when she turned around to an empty room, she felt hurt and betrayed. He was the only person she had thought would understand her fully and willingly-but he had left her alone, leaving her to believe that she would remain truly alone forever.

* * *

"Hey Bruce!" Tim yelled from the end of the hall, as he saw his mentor stride down the hall. Only when they got closer did he notice the serious determined expression the older man had etched across his face, "Bruce?"

He called out as he curiously watched his mentor walk past him and Donna without so much as a nod or glance in their direction.

"What's _his_ problem?" Donna sneered as she turned from Bruce's now-distant silhouette to Tim.

"I'm honestly not sure," Tim muttered worriedly. As stoic and serious as Bruce usually was, it was unlike him to be so rude and uncaring. Tim figured that something must have happened while he was talking to Diana, or perhaps something came up and he was needed at the command center. But seeing as though the command center was generally in the opposite direction-he had a bad talk with Diana.

"I'm going to go check up on my sister now," Tim figured that Donna probably got the hint that something bad might have happened between her sister and Bruce. He just nodded as stood silently and watched Donna run to the meeting room where her sister was.

"Bruce, you idiot," Tim said under his breath.

* * *

_A/N: Now you know why I apologized. 1 step forward, 2 steps back~_

_Just a disclaimer that might pose as a spoiler for some who didn't see this coming: I'm aiming to make Jason and Donna a couple in this fanfic. I think they would be adorable together. Thoughts? :P_

_I'll be updating real soon!_


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Told you I would update again soon!  
I think I had the most fun writing this chapter.  
This chapter will be all about Brucey Bruce

:) Enjoy!

* * *

"Bruce? Your tracker's reading that you're out of bounds," Barbara's voice penetrated his ears which were drowning in the sound of his own heartbeat a few seconds ago. He knew he needed to take a breath to calm down and really think about what he was doing, but his body refused to stop moving-his heart kept telling him that he needed to do this. He was running as fast as he could through the thick forest. The paths were engraved in the back of his head; he didn't need to think about where he was going. His body would just lead him there.

"Bruce? What's going on?" Worry was etching itself into her voice, Barbara was too smart to know that there was something seriously wrong, "Goddammit Bruce, what the hell are you doing?"

Bruce considered reaching into his ear and ripping out his earpiece, but he knew that if he suddenly went missing on Barbara's radar, she would have a heart attack and worry herself to death. Not that he wasn't already doing a good job of making her worry.

"Don't worry about me," Bruce grunted as he hurdled over a tree that had fallen. He turned around and dully noted that he was covering ground faster than he had expected. Hopefully he would be able to return before they caught onto his plan and sent a group after him. The worst thing that could happen is more than one person getting hurt.

"As if! Bruce what's going on? You're scaring me," From the shakiness evident in her voice, Bruce knew he really was starting to scare her, "Where are you going? Tell me!"

"Barbara, I'm going to cut the com-link," he reached up and was about to clip the communications switch when her words stopped him.

"Bruce, we can't lose you-_I _can't lose you," she began to sob. Bruce slowed into a walk as he tried to catch his breath while listening to what Barbara was saying. It was unlike her to be this sensitive. It was his turn to be worried.

"I-I," He patiently waited for her to put together the words, "-I can't walk anymore. M-My legs… They're gone Bruce. I can't walk anymore,"

Bruce felt his own legs go numb. He stopped running, walking-moving. His body was about to collapse on him, and he felt heavier than he had ever felt before. Barbara's loss was on him. It was his fault she wouldn't be able to walk anymore. He had been the one to pressure her into going on that assignment. He hadn't been able to do anything when the gun went off, and when the bullet hit her. He was responsibility for it all.

"I k-know what you're thinking, but it's not your fault Bruce. It never was," Her voice was a little calmer than it was a few seconds ago. He heard her sniffles fill the com-link. He closed his eyes as he wished he could rewind the past few days, weeks, years even. Perhaps if he could return to 20 years ago, when the world had once held so much promise instead of anger and hurt. If he could, he would take her place in the wheelchair. He would die over and over again; numerous times if that meant he could save the lives of the lost ones.

"Bruce- I _need_ you to come back. We can't do this without you…I need you to be my legs. I need you to help me run and escape this shithole of a world," Barbara's voice overflowed with conviction as she pleads for him to return to the camp. She wasn't even sure where he was headed, but she knew it was somewhere away from home.

"Barbara," Bruce wanted to apologize to her, to tell her that he would do anything to make things right for her. But he didn't even feel like he had deserved the right to say he was sorry. He hadn't earned it yet. He hadn't tried his best yet, and only once he had done everything in his power to make things right for her, would he apologize to her.

"Bruce-"

"I'll come back-I promise," he raised his hand and disabled the transmitter completely. He knew that the little red dot that had represented him on Barbara's screen had disappeared, and that she would be upset, confused and most of all-disappointed. But her disappointment in him was the least of his worries. He would make things right for her, Dick, Tim, Jason and Diana. He had to.

* * *

-Couple Hours Later-

Bruce grunted as he searched around blindly with his hand to find the mechanism that would help him disable the security cameras. He was currently occupying a tiny space in the ventilation systems by the prisoner cells. He had made sure to memorize every nook and cranny of the Empire's main structure when they broke in a little more than a week ago. He was rather unsurprised by the lack of new security measures they had implemented after their initial break-in. The Supreme was not of this world-his physiology was better than that of any human being in this world. And so, just as his strength levels rose above the charts, so did his cockiness. He probably thought that the resistance wouldn't be so foolish as to attempt to break-in or attack so quickly after. Bruce silently thanked The Supremes' overly confident attitude.

His finger caught onto a little nub and snapped a small device onto it, which caused the camera's to override. He had only a few minutes before the security feed would stop looping itself. Even less if the security guard noticed that the footage was looping. He mentally crossed his fingers hoping that the security guard wouldn't be so bright-but he would be prepared regardless.

Bruce silently leapt from his spot in the vent to a secluded corner. He waited for the guard to make his schedule walk around the corner before sprinting to cell #0052. He noticed how it was the only cell occupied on the first floor. Even though they were executing one of their own innocent men, they were hospitable enough to give him some privacy from the other prisoners. Or perhaps they just didn't want him to talk to them. Regardless, this worked out for the best.

He knelt down and took a second to examine the high-tech security lock on the bullet-proof glass cell door. He only had 18 seconds before the security guard would turn the corner once more and return to this side.

"Who is it?" a deep voice called out from inside the cell. Though it was completely see-through from the outside, the prisoners had little to no visibility of the outside. He probably just saw a shadow like figure right by his door.

Bruce cursed silently to himself as he heard the security guards feet shuffle from around the corner. He quickly unlocked the cell using his by-passer, and strode inside the cell. He found Steve Trevor sitting on the toilet seat going about with his business. Bruce just shot him a glare. This would prove to be a lot more difficult than he had originally expected-and he originally expected it to be pretty damn difficult.

"Seriously? You're gonna walk into MY cell while I'm taking a deuce, and _stare_?!" Steve threw his roll of toilet paper at Bruce who caught the roll, "I get that I'm a prisoner, but I'm still fucking human,"

"You're going to need this," he threw it back at him and semi-intentionally hit him in the face. Steve pulled the toilet paper of his face and threw daggers at Bruce with his eyes.

Bruce heard footsteps approach the open cell. He turned to turn his back to the wall. He quickly checked his injured arm and considered how he would approach this matter. He had prematurely taken off the cast back at the base; it would only slow him down. The pain had subsided, but if he wasn't careful the wound could open up again and he could find himself bleeding out on the floor of the Empire. Leslie would probably just say good riddance for not listening to her instructions.

Steve continued to glare at Bruce, wondering what the hell he was doing inside of his cell. Bruce realized that Steve probably thought he was a security guard playing games with him. But in a matter of a few seconds, he wouldn't be thinking that.

Bruce looked down at the edge of the wall and as soon as he saw the point of the Taser gun peak from the other side of the wall, he reached out with his good arm and grabbed the guards wrist and violently snapped his elbow in the man's face. He security guard toppled over, his consciousness long gone.

"Jesus, you're not a security guard," Steve muttered as more of a statement than a question. He quickly pulled up his pants and got into a fighting stance, "What're you? Assassin? Resistance?"

"Neither and I definitely don't need to be a hygienist to tell you that you need to wash your hands," Bruce muttered as he ignored Steve who was trying to pick a fight with him as he searched the body of the security guard. He considered making him wear the security guards outfit, but they would be wasting time that they didn't have.

"Let's go," Bruce got up and started walking towards the exit of the room with the guards key.

"Hold up, I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me who the hell you are," Steve stabbed a finger in Bruce's direction with a disgruntled expression.

Bruce wanted to murder the man at that very moment (figuratively of course), they had no time for this sort of bickering. He would make this a quick one. He walked over to Steve and sighed.

"It's either, I leave you here to die a traitor to your own cause, or you come along with me and live-"

Bruce's offer was cut short when a fist flew straight towards his face. He easily dodged it and swept his leg under Steve's, knocking him up into the air for a split second before slamming his fist into the man's abdomen, crushing him against the floor. Steve coughed as he didn't know what just happened except that he had the air knocked out of him. Bruce mentally noted that it was a good thing the man had done his business before; else things might've turned out for the worse-for both of them.

"Let's go," he stood up and straightened out his black jacket before walking towards the exit once more. Steve coughed as he pulled himself up from the floor. He was stuck with this crazy anonymous madman, whether he liked it or not.

As Bruce strode down the corridor with Steve in haul, he reminded himself to lecture Diana regarding her poor choice in body guards. At the notion of her name, his thoughts immediately shifted over to a particular Amazon warrior. He was doing this for her-no-it was for him. He wanted her safe, and this was the only way to go about doing it.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a cold shiver snake its way through his spine.

Someone was watching them.

"Trevor," Bruce called to the other man who was a few steps behind him, "Stay close,"

"I felt it too," Steve referred to the feeling of being watched. It had been a few of minutes since Bruce had felt it, but there was no one to actually be seen. Bruce was surprised that Steve was willingly following him around. Perhaps he came to the realization that it really was better to die a free man, than to die for something he hadn't done.

At that moment, Bruce's watch started blinking. Their time was up and the camera loop was fried, they would be coming for them regardless. He just couldn't shake the eerie feeling that someone was watching the entire time. But why hadn't they come out and attacked them?

"We got some company," Steve turned his back to Bruce as he heard approaching footsteps from behind them. By the sound of the echoes of their shoes, Bruce determined that they were still a good distance away. But the sound of their footsteps began to mash in with the sound of another group of footsteps. This time, they were coming from the direction they were headed in. They were surrounded.

Bruce felt the air become tense as Steve realized the situation they were in. Bruce wanted to apologize for selfishly getting the ex-officer involved in all of this. Truthfully, dying peacefully labeled as a traitor would probably be better than to die labeled as a coward for trying to run away. That was it!

Bruce quickly surveyed their surroundings. They were in the middle of a large open hallway. He then spotted a vent located far above, near the ceiling. They wouldn't be able to escape through that in time. They needed a diversion. He looked around some more and spotted a large container that was used to hold pipes. He ran over and checked to see if it was empty-it was. He grinned as he realized he really lucked out-even though he doesn't believe in luck.

He turned to Steve and his grin disappeared as he came to terms with what he had to do. He walked over to the other man and grabbed his shoulder with his good arm.

"Take this," Bruce handed him his utility belt pushed a button that retracted a claw-like mechanism; "it's a grappler. Use it to get over there,"

Steve's gaze followed Bruce's finger as he pointed up at the vent. He began to shake his head; this was all too crazy for him.

"Listen Trevor," Bruce pulled his gaze back to him, "You _need_ to do this, there's no other way,"

"No other way? Where the hell are _you _going?" Steve was pissed. He figured that Bruce was going to use him as a decoy so he could escape.

"Nowhere," Bruce grinned as he pinched a nerve in the other man's neck which caused him to collapse onto him and lose consciousness immediately. Bruce used the momentum of his collapse and quickly pulled him over to the empty container. He dumped Steve into it and made sure to leave it open a crack so the poor man could breath. Hopefully, they would be too occupied with him to bother checking the container for Steve. For all they know, Steve was still in his cell taking a dump.

"Just in time," Bruce whispered to himself as he heard the long awaited footsteps finally meet the floor of his hall. He grinned as he widened his stance and got ready to fight. He wasn't sure if he had gone completely bat-shit crazy, or if this was simply a brilliant plan and he was confident in himself and his abilities. He shook the thoughts away as he tried to focus on the battle ahead. But one final thought protruded his otherwise focused mind; he should have kissed her when he had the chance.

* * *

A/N: Uh-Oh.

If I may say so... The last sentence kills/killed me. I was swooned by my own writing for the first time. Let me know if you were as well!  
Eep! Can't wait to write more :)! But until then, I leave you with this cliffhanger.

Thanks for reading!


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